


The next great Adventure

by Hermionechan90



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Piece
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2015-08-31
Packaged: 2018-01-07 22:40:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hermionechan90/pseuds/Hermionechan90
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helen Potter doesn't survive the second task of the Triwizard tournament, when she leaves her world behind it is decided that she will receive another chance at a fullfilled life. This is her story in a world full of pirates, haki and devil fruit users.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Helen Interlude**

The surface was in sight but Helen hadn’t any strength left, both Ron and the little French girl were weighting her frail body down and when the transformation of her gills began, Helen suddenly hadn’t enough air to breathe anymore. She desperately tried to reach for the surface but as she slowly sank further down everything around her went black. The last thing that she had seen while still alive in this world was how the rest of the air in her lungs escaped her mouth and how the pretty bubbles rose to the black lake’s surface while a strange calmness overtook her.

The next thing Helen was aware of, were rows after rows of black clothed students and other wizards and witches she had never seen before. The headmaster in the front stood with an absolute devastated face while he grimly looked into the crowd of mourning people. The Weasley matriarch was crying into her husband’s neck; Ron, Fred, George and Ginny stood with red eyes and pale faces beside their parents and older siblings and a crying and exhausted looking Hermione was desperately holding onto Ron. Helen’s gaze wandered further and she recognized a sullen looking Snape alongside a pale McGonagall and a sobbing Hagrid. Beside them stood the other Triwizard champions, Krum looked sullen, Cedric absolutely devastated while Fleur was crying silently pretty tears, the blonde young woman was clenching her younger sibling to her body. The last Potter’s gaze followed the rows further down where she recognized the whole Gryffindor house, alongside the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs,… hell even the Slytherins were there. Most of them chalk white and with wide eyes, none looked smug or even indifferent.   
Helen’s eyes finally found the figure of Malfoy in the second row of the Slytherins; her self-appointed rival looked like he had cried and his pale face was lonely looking. Crabbe and Goyle who were flanking him made him look even more pathetic. Strangely enough Helen had the urge to hug the platinum haired boy and tell him everything was going to be alright. Their fights and quarrels didn’t seem to be important anymore, to be honest nothing seemed urgent or important anymore. Helen couldn’t understand what Dumbledore was saying but in some way she didn’t have to. On the raised platform in front of the masses was black mahogany casket with her name on it.

She was dead.

Death was a strange feeling Helen decided after a moment of contemplation, she had expected something different something more final. From what she had deducted she wasn’t like the ghosts around her, nobody could see her and nobody had asked her if she wanted to stay or go on.   
So she followed her friends around after the funeral, she felt slightly sorry for them and a bit guilty, they were crying because she was dead. To her own astonishment Helen didn’t mind death; to her it was peaceful if not a bit boring. In the hours after her funeral the black haired girl realized that if she didn’t consciously decided where to go she felt drawn to three pretty unlikely people. The first one was Ginny, who while she was Ron’s little sister had her own friends and they hadn’t interacted a lot before Helen’s death. The second one was the little girl that she now learned was called Gabrielle Delacour and wasn’t even old enough to attend a magical school yet and the last person was strangely enough Snape. Yes it was Severus Snape, dungeon bat extraordinaire that she was drawn to.

Two days into her death Helen discovered her ability to affect things around her. She could move them, more or less precisely and this made her strange state suddenly a lot more interesting. After practicing some hours she decided to approach Snape, he was the least likely to just ignore what was happening around him. Surprisingly enough he was one of the ones that were affected the most by her death. He didn’t show it in public but in the privacy of his rooms he let his mask slip, his sadness and grieve were intermixed with bouts of anger and destruction. Severus Snape, the man that had made the Potions class torture for her took her death badly, very badly.   
So the next time he was alone again in his rooms and tried more or less successfully drink himself into a stupor with a full whiskey bottle she took said bottle out of his hands. Snape was in a flash on his feet and casting several detection spells but came up with nothing. He was clearly unnerved and had no idea how to proceed with the fact that his whiskey bottle was floating in the air and nobody was near to cause it. Helen gently sat said bottle down on his well stocked house bar before she pushed Snape back into his chair and picked a sheet of paper from his desk to set it on the small coffee table beside the sofa and began to write with the quill that had fallen onto the floor.

_You shouldn’t do this to yourself Professor._

“Who or what are you???” Snape snarled into thin air.

_Really? Professor I’m a little bit disappointed, after all it is my death you are so choked up about._

“Potter?” he asked incredulous before his face turned angry, “Why are you here? And what the hell are you? You are not a ghost if you were I would have detected you!!!” Snape bit out.

_I’m not sure why, I came back to awareness during my funeral and about what I am… I have no idea. Nearly Headless Nick told me once that he was asked if he wanted to stay or go on, but I never was. I just am. Maybe something is holding me here,… it’s strange I feel drawn to you and I have no idea why, because really I want to move on. Death is kind of boring!_

“Holding you here? That’s impossible, that’s wait… Potter are you aware that through your father I owe you a life debt? And what do you mean with boring?” the black haired wizard growled.

_Huh life debt? What’s that? And what does this have to do with anything?_

“A life debt emerges when somebody is rescued from a life treating situation and it’s not their occupation, like being an Auror for example,” rang the clipped voice of the Potion Master through his quarters.

_So wait. Like with Ginny? Because I have the urge to visit her like I do you and Gabrielle as well!_

Now Snape looked incredulous and then groaned, “You have three open life debts? Oh for Merlin’s sake Potter, why is that you even in death are the source of my headache!” her former professor massaged his temples to head off the pressure headache only she could generate, “The number three is magical, as you should well know so it IS possible that your essence is bound to this plane of existence. Try to release the Life Debts it may help you to move on.”

_Okay… oh it’s working!!! I don’t feel drawn to you anymore._

Somehow with the next inhale Snape seemed to breath in a lot easier than before, his shoulders relaxed as if a big weight fell from them.

_Professor, I know you didn’t like me while I was alive and even in death I seem to annoy you, but I still want to thank you for looking out for me, especially during my first year here. So thanks and please don’t beat yourself up anymore. I’m content; this whole death thing isn’t so bad. I wish you the best for the rest of your life. Please enjoy it. H. L. Potter_

Snape swallowed as he felt a soft breeze moving on his left side. That Merlin damned girl. As least he was now sure that he wouldn’t be haunted by Potter into eternity. His eyes suspiciously moist while he detangled his robes and sat down to finally finish the essays of the second year dunderheads. He had after all better things to do than brood over a stupid Gryffindor.

With now a way to leave this plane of existence Helen made her way out of the castle, she had two men to visit before either of them could do something foolish. She arrived at the right time and could prevent her godfather from doing something extremely stupid like storming the Ministry, after a tear filled goodbye from Sirius and Remus, who she had advised to flee across the pond to live the rest of their lives there and enjoy it to the fullest; she made her way back to Hogwarts. The two lovers had promised her to seriously contemplate this idea.

Good deed done, Helen found Ginny in the Gryffindor common room close to midnight, the younger red head was nestled between Ron and Hermione and tears were running down her face. After releasing her from her life debt, the black haired girl threw a last glance at Ron and Hermione, who were sitting numbly on both sides of Ron’s youngest sister. The other Weasley boys were spread throughout the room and were keeping close watch on the three miserable teens on the couch. Helen sighed and felt like the worst friend ever but she couldn’t say goodbye to them in person… she really, really couldn’t… they would just try to persuade her to stay and that she really didn’t want.

She wanted to be free…

Helen then enjoyed a last… hhm walk or should she say glide? through Hogwarts; it would be the last time she could wander through the castle that had been her home for the last four years. After that she made her way to the Beauxbatons carriage and after that hopefully into the afterlife. On her way outside she stumbled over one Draco Malfoy; said boy was sitting alone at the Black Lake and had suspicious tear tracks on his cheeks. Helen felt another tuck in her heart, but this time it was a different one. She couldn’t explain it but all the time she spent in the Wizarding world she had always felt drawn to the Malfoy, even if it was in anger. Now that she could look unbiased back on her life, she had to admit if only to herself that she had had a serious crush on the blonde Slytherin. Even with the bad blood between them, he had always looked kind of cute to her and his taunts always brought the worst out of her. So she did that what she thought best, she gave him a hug. Malfoy nearly jumped out of his skin at the strange contact, it was not really physical but also not cold like the touch of the ghosts of Hogwarts. After she was sure she had his attention, she filched paper and a quill of him and wrote.

_Malfoy what has you in such a mood that you are crying alone at the Black Lake? Don’t tell me you miss me?_

“Who are you?... Wait, P-Potter?” the frightened Slytherin whispered, “Are you a ghost?”

_Nah, I had to release a few life debts before I can move on. So wanna tell me why you are crying?_

Slightly embarrassed Draco tried to hide his tears with his sleeves, “So, so you are going and not coming back… you are really dead?”

The Slytherin jumped again when he felt the contact with Helen again, she had put one arm around him.

With an embarrassed blush he continued to speak “I, I know this comes too late but I’m sorry, you know, for all the things I threw at you. I didn’t mean even half of them, but it was so easy to rile up!”

_Yeah. I will finally meet my parents again. Don’t be sad Draco, I feel content, and don’t feel guilty… to be honest I gave as good as I got. And now that we are being honest and all that rot I have to tell you, I really had a crush on you since the moment we met at Madame Malkins. You were just so adorable, even when stuck up._

A shaky sob came from Malfoy before he laughs quietly, “Merlin, why couldn’t I have known that in the beginning, I think… thought you were cute too and I hated it when you rejected my offer in first year,” another nearly inaudible sob escaped him.

_Oh Draco come on, no more crying. Laugh. Live. You are fifteen years old, you have your whole life in front of you. I forgive you for all the childish things you have done to me in the last four years. The only thing I want from you is that you don’t forget me. I wish you the best.  
H. L. Potter_

“I won’t, I promise,” With that he slowly stood up, clenching the piece of paper with the last contact of Helen to his body.

He would keep her memory safe, he owned her that and so determined to keep his promise to her Draco wandered up to the castle.

XXXXXXX

Choked up Helen made her way finally to the carriage where young Gabrielle slept. With a quick thought she felt the bond between them fade, just like with the others. A short time nothing happened and then she was suddenly not at Hogwarts anymore. The best way to describe it would be Limbo. It was a grey mass, but it felt peaceful and calm around here. In the next moment Helen stood in front of two beings, she couldn’t look at them straight but by the feeling they gave of they were very powerful and important.

To be honest Helen couldn’t really remember what they asked her, or even what she answered but after what seemed like half an age they came to a decision. They decided that she would get a second chance, somewhere where she wasn’t weighted down by a prophecy. When she became aware again she was surrounded by sudden coldness as she opened her mouth to shout out in surprise, the shout came out like a wail.

A baby’s wail to be exact.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

If you asked anyone in the small fisher village on Maruno Island what they thought of Yamamoto Hisana they would have told you that she was strange. Warm, kind hearted, an excellent diver and sailor but still strange… different in a way that many couldn’t describe.

The daughter of Akito and Hanako loved singing strange songs from her earliest childhood in an even stranger language that nobody had ever heard of; not even her parents. She also seemed somehow connected with the nature around her, the garden of the Yamamotos was a sight to be seen, everything was green and luscious even during the strongest heat waves and they had the tastiest fruits in the whole village. Though with time this effect had somehow been reduced and a lot of the villagers had began to just laugh it off as their superstition running wild.

Aside from that Hisana was also a very independent girl, the complete opposite of the average village female that was dependant on her family and expected to be taken care of later in her life by her husband.

While she grew up the black haired girl never really connected with the other children her age. She got along reasonably well with the group of boys and girls she shared her reading, writing and counting lessons with and also indulged in some play time with them but there was always a certain kind of barrier between them. Musume-sensei, the widow that was paid by their parents to teach them the basics had once told her not to worry about it, that she just had an old soul and that the other children would sooner or later also mature. Hisana had thought about this for some time before shrugging her shoulders and returning to the book she always read during break time.

Another peculiarity about the black haired girl was that she loved the sea.

Of course the other kids on the small fisher island also learned how to sail, fish and dive but Hisana had such a passion for the open sea and the ever changing weather that she was the happiest when she was on a boat speeding over waves and inhaling the salty air. Because of this obsession most villagers joked that the sea was her first and only love and one day she would grow gills and fins and never return.   
Her father and mother just smiled slightly pained whenever they heard that, they had recognized pretty soon into Hisana’s preteen years that their daughter was something special and that the sea was calling to her like it did to nobody else on their tiny island, they also were aware that their little girl was intending to answer this call. Someday she would leave this small village behind to follow whatever was summoning her and nothing would deter her from her goal. As much as it would hurt they had long since decided to let their daughter go, neither Akito nor Hanako would stand in the way of Hisana’s happiness even if that meant that they would have to let her find her way on the dangerous sea.

But there was another thing that was strange about Hisana that nobody, not even her parents, were aware of. The black haired girl with the jewel eyes dreamed of another world.

The strange dreams had begun around her eleventh birthday and ended sometime after her fourteenth. During that time she had relived the life of the witch Helen Potter in her dreams. It had taken Hisana some time to accept that those dreams were actual memories but when she did the black haired girl had to laugh a bit about the accurate deduction Musume-sensei had made a few years ago, she really was an old soul!   
Having finally found the reason for her strangeness Hisana just mentally shrugged and concentrated back on her new life as Hisana in this world. After all Helen was dead and while magic looked and sounded interesting, she really liked this life better. Her family loved her and she had a lot more freedom than back in England… oh and don’t forget the lack of interest in her person!!!

In the days after accepting her experiences Hisana’s thoughts sometimes drifted back to her death when she looked out on the sea, the black haired girl had been darkly amused when she realized how ironic it truly was. Helen Potter had drowned in her last life, only to be reborn as the daughter of a lower class fisherman and his wife who of course would teach her how to navigate the seas. Maybe these memories would have detained somebody else from their goal but like hell it would make her back off.   
Hisana had decided to become a Finn Dinghy racer sometime after her seventh birthday when one of the professional racers that had stopped at Maruno to resupply had taken out some of the kids on his Finn Dinghy. Hisana had fallen in love with the speed and maneuverability of the small vessel and since then had aligned everything in her life to reach this goal. Her first Finn had been the old one from the Eiri grandpa that had died when she was ten. Her father had bought it off the family and while it was old and a bit too bulky for racing Hisana had loved the boat and had taken good care of it for the two years it had belonged to her until it had literally broken under her feet. By that time her fishing and diving skills had brought in enough money to pay half of another second hand boat, this time a slimmer and newer one. Her parents had paid for the other half as a birthday present and it was on this boat that Hisana had started to learn the more complicated fishermen maneuvers and even started to emulate the various tricks of the racers that she had observed during the annual races all over the isle group. It was also the boat she still had to this day and while it had to be frequently repaired it was Hisana’s most important possession.

Hisana smiled contently while she cleaning up the last of her fishing gear and stored her catch in the hand-woven basket after that she stood up from her favorite place at the dock and glanced once more onto the vast body of water in front of her. By that time of the day it was colored in different pink and violet tones and the black haired girl paused for a moment to admire the beautiful sight in front of her, she felt the by now familiar tug in her heart while she watched the small waves clash against the coast and the dock in front of her and sighed longingly. With a tiny smile and a last catlike stretch Hisana then turned around to run home to bring her family her newest clam and fish catch.

XXXXXXXXXX

Two weeks later Hisana sailed for the first time alone to the neighboring isle for the annual Finn dinghy race. Sadly she would only be there as a spectator and not as a participant, she hadn’t had enough money left for the entrance fee after she had had to pay for the repair of her sailcloth and as much as her parents would like to encourage her competiveness, they just hadn’t the extra money to spare at the moment. Her little brother Hojo had just turned three and a baby was expensive after all.

When Hisana arrived at the port a few hours before the race, it was already filling with spectators and racers from all over the isle group and even some of the neighboring ones if Hisana recognized the flags correctly. The black haired girl watched the on goings for a bit before she steered her boat to one of the less crowded dock stations and bound it to a free log. She was lucky that her flag proclaimed her a citizen of Maruno and so exempted her from dock dues. After checking her Finn once more she grabbed her duffel bag and made her way in direction of the market. She had about three hours left before the race began and she wanted to take a look at the different stands beforehand and maybe buy a toy for Hojo-chan.

XXXXXXXXX

Hisana spent two hours roaming in the streets while she took in the people and wares around her, she had seen one or two toys that looked good but she held off, after all there was a chance that somewhere else was something even better for her little brother. And wasn’t that weird, she had a little brother in this life?

Hojo was a sweet child, he didn’t cry very often and although she had been wary of the terrible twos he hadn’t thrown any major temper tantrums like she had been used to from Dudley. Hojo too had black hair and green eyes, though his eyes were more of a moss color, just like their father’s. It had been an interesting and slightly daunting experience seeing her brother grow up from an infant to a toddler, he was now running around and talking the ears off anybody who would listen. A younger sibling was at first a strange concept for Hisana but she had soon fallen in love with him and now couldn’t think of a life without him.

Hisana was so deep in her thoughts that at first she didn’t realize that she had become hungry, when the loud growl of her stomach finally alerted her to it she hastily wandered to the next stand that offered squid balls. The smell was driving her crazy and when she finally held a portion in her hand she was promptly run over by a red haired man.

Annoyed emerald eyes met wide eyed chocolate brown.

The man in front of her stared down at Hisana until she snorted and he seemed to be ripped out whatever trance he had been in, he gave her a somewhat sheepish grin while he took in the situation and the upturned tray with her food.

His voice was deep and warm while he apologized, “Oh man, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you, seriously!” he said with earnest eyes.

Hisana just sighed; the fried squid balls were ruined and her stomach was growling again. Glancing up again she took a closer look at the boy… well young man that had run her over.

‘Holy shit’, was the only thing she could think of ‘the Weasley red is NOTHING against this blood red mane’.

The red head put a hand on his straw hat and mumbled embarrassed, “My name is Shanks, here let me help you up!”

His hand encased her smaller one while he helped her up and even after she stood on her feet once more he didn’t let go of her hand, Hisana vaguely noticed that it was warm and slightly rough, not unlike her father’s, though some of the calluses were on strange places that clearly weren’t caused by ropes. She was ripped out of her musings when Shanks led her back to the food stand she had just exited and ordered for both of them squid balls.

Mollified Hisana grinned at him and said, “Thanks, my name is Yamamoto Hisana by the way. Hisana is fine, I don’t like formality.”

While eating the two started to talk about the market and the different stands they had already visited and slowly wandered in the direction of the port. Unbeknownst to them they made a pretty picture together and the town people watching them were smiling and muttering about young love behind their backs. Shanks was tall, broad shouldered with red hair while Hisana was nearly one and a half heads shorter, black haired and had the most striking green eyes anybody had ever seen.

On the way down to the port Shanks apologized twice more but before he could begin the third one he was interrupted by Hisana.

“Seriously; stop that! You ran into me and made me drop my food, after that you apologized and bought me another tray as compensation. If you really feel like you still owe me a debt then borrow me the money for the Finn Dinghy race, I will pay you back out of my winnings!”

The last part was of course meant as a joke, she really didn’t think he would do that. But to her surprise and consternation he grinned before he took her by the hand again and led her to the application stand.

“Hey, I meant that as a joke, you don’t even know if I win something! And two thousand five hundred Beli is a lot of money!” Hisana tried to protest while she watched wide eyed as the red head took out the money to pay her entry fee.

Said male just grinned at her and laughed boisterously, “Just do your best and if nothing comes from it… well it doesn’t matter at least you had some fun!”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Hisana Interlude**

And so Hisana found herself walking numbly to her boat while she tried to comprehend what had just happened. A quick glance at the big clock at the town hall showed her that she had just over fifteen minutes left before the race began. Slowly the nerves started to set in, this was not only her first official Finn Dinghy race but also a great opportunity to impress possible future employers, Hisana had seen the scouts that had arrived along with the racers and their crews. Coming out of her thoughts the black haired girl turned her head to look at her red haired companion, she knew Shanks less than an hour and it still felt like they had known each other for years. Was it the same for him?   
Shoving the thought away to contemplate later Hisana started to prepare her Finn Dinghy for the race, she hoped the patched up parts of it would hold.

It took her less than a minute to go through the familiar hand motions before she affixed her sandals with a short rope on the aft so that they wouldn’t fall out during a sudden maneuver. With a deep breath she turned around to the man that stood beside her boat and with a quick movement she threw her duffel bag into Shanks arms.

“Here hold on to that, it would just get wet during the race!” she yelled while she loosened the sail and pressed the boat away from the dock to join the other competitors.

She joined the long line of racers and was promptly jeered at.

“Are you lost little girl?” an arrogant blonde racer asked, he was maybe five or six years older than her and practically oozed overconfidence.

His question elicited laugher from the others around him, most of them wore the sign of a company on either their backs or their boats; they were the sponsored ones and the greatest competition in this race. Hisana grounded her teeth while she kept her mouth shut, she wouldn’t rise to this blatant insult, not right now at least.

Taking another deep breath Hisana mapped out the route in her mind one more time before she turned her concentration back on her surroundings. The fisherman’s daughter could hear the sounds of the sea somewhat dulled through the roar of the crowd at her back, above the docks seagulls were crying and then suddenly the starting signal rang through the air and the race began.

XXXXXX

Breathing in deeply Hisana tried to relax her cramped muscles and release the pressure of the abraded skin on her palms. Thanks to her intimate knowledge of the area and the different weather and wind conditions she was able to overtake the seven sponsored racers at the second turn and gain a pretty good head start. If she had calculated this right she would need every second of it in the end to make it under the top three, her boat was not the newest and lost a lot of speed during the long straight parts of the route but Hisana was determined to get the most out of this race. She would give her all and show those stuck up racers. They may have the better boats but she had home field advantage! Also Shanks had paid for her entrance fee, a boy… well man that she had met only today and she would definitely pay him back, her pride wouldn’t allow anything else!

On the last miles before the finish Hisana’s competition regained some of the lost time and the black haired girl was sweating buckets now while her muscles were aching continuously, she knew she would feel this tomorrow but right now she didn’t care about the consequences, her blood rushed through her body and the adrenaline gave her a high, this was what she was living for.

The young reincarnation used every trick that she had ever learned to increase her speed and hold her position, the blonde racer that had asked her if she was lost was only half a boat length away now and like hell she would allow him to overtake her!

In the end her determination paid off, though Hisana knew that it was more luck then ability on the last fifty meters of the finish line. It had been a real close call but somehow she arrived as the first in the finish and was bombarded with loud cheers and screams all around her.

The moment she became consciously aware of the cheering crowd in front of her Hisana’s eyes went wide and she could feel her heart beat thrice as fast while she searched the mass of people, somewhere in that crowd was Shanks waiting for her, she was sure. Remotely she noticed the blond racer beside her turn an unbecoming purple color while he stormed off, not even checking over his Finn for damages.

The black haired girl inwardly shrugged her shoulders and continued her search until she found Shanks, the red head stood on one of the empty barrels on the left side of the port with her duffel bag over his shoulder. His grin split his face and his yellow straw hat practically gleamed in the sun, the sight brought a warm smile to her lips, he was kind of cute.

XXXXXXX

Hisana still felt somewhat dazed while a photo of her and the racers in second and third place was taken for the local paper. After that the organizer presented her with fifty thousand Beli and a new Finn Dinghy. Hisana had to swallow hard, the money was a fourth of what her parents had put aside as their life savings! And the racing boat was the newest model on the market in the East Blue, it was at least another ten thousand Beli worth! Hisana’s heart started to race again, she just couldn’t believe it, her dream of becoming a professional racer was suddenly so very reachable!

Still overwhelmed by all the well wishes and addresses and den den mushi numbers the scouts had pressed into her arms Hisana bound her new boat alongside her trusty old one and then went in search for Shanks.

The search was minutely interrupted by well wishers and congratulators who stopped her somewhat. After she finally fought her way to the empty barrels where she had seen Shanks before, the crowd finally started to dissolve to move the celebrations up into the village and suddenly her red haired benefactor stood before her. Both grinned at each other and without another word Hisana gave into the urge to hug the older male.

**Shanks Interlude**

At first he was a bit shocked about the contact she had initiated but then Shanks lifted his new acquaintance in the air and spun her around before setting her down once more and moving her under his arm. That little slip of a girl had done it! Shanks still wasn’t completely sure why he had agreed to pay for her because even if he was an ex apprentice of Gol D. Rogers crew and made some money during his time on the ship, 2.500 Beli were a lot and if he wanted to sail on the Grand Line he needed a ship and under 100.000.000 Beli you didn’t get a decent ship with enough room. Oh well it didn’t matter now because Emeralds in front of him kept her promise and won that race. Smiling at the petite girl he started to move her in the direction of the market.

“Where are we going?” she asked confused.

Shanks couldn’t help himself he patted her slightly windswept hair and laughed at her confused face, “We are going to celebrate your win! By the way how old are you fifteen, sixteen?”

Hisana grumbled at him and Shanks thought he had misheard, “Can you repeat that please?”

“I just turned fourteen!” Hisana said with a blush.

‘Well crap’, he hadn’t expected that.

Hisana was three years younger than him; he had reckoned that she was around his age. Pouting a bit Shanks tugged carefully a loose black strand behind her ear, he would have to be careful with flirting even if she was very pretty, Emerald was still only a child and he really didn’t want to frighten her!

“Okay, that means no alcohol for you! What do you like to eat?” Shanks decided.

As answer she smiled brightly and said, “Chocolate, and I know where we can get both!”

“Both?” the red haired pirate now asked confused.

“Yes, sake for you and chocolate for me, come on!” Hisana said impatiently before she dragged him in direction of the market to a small delicacy shop.

Inside the shop both chose the more expensive stuff that was in stock, they normally wouldn’t buy this because the prices were absolutely ridiculous but both of them decided that to celebrate Hisana’s success they would allow themselves to indulge.

After paying they spend their evening on one of the outcrops of the mountain, the two had picked up some dinner on the way and were enjoying the evening in front of a campfire Shanks had quickly made while they played twenty questions.

When their dreams became topic of the conversation Shanks was glad that his desire to be a pirate captain didn’t deter Hisana from her questions or scared her away. If she had reacted poorly, he would have just cut his losses but it would have hurt because even if Shanks didn’t want to admit it he had been lonely since the crew had separated and he and Buggy had decided to go their own ways. This was his first real meaningful human interaction that he had since the execution of Gol D. Roger the year before and he really kind of wanted to keep it up. Maybe even make her join him but Hisana was only a fourteen year old East Blue girl and as much as he wanted to he really couldn’t ask her a question when he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure that she was fully aware of all the consequences that this would entail, Shanks was a pirate, not an asshole!

Though Hisana kind of surprised him, she had smiled and only giggled slightly at his dream of becoming a pirate captain and sailing, having adventures and discovering the world, she than had petted his arm and told him about her dream of being a professional Finn Dinghy racer and about her family. The last part had been the biggest deterrent to his plans to make her join his crew. Hisana clearly had loving parents, unlike him who had escaped his alcoholic father’s beating with the apprenticeship on the Oro Jackson.

Though his decision came back to haunt him when over the course of the night Shanks recognized the same deep love for the sea in Hisana that he himself felt. This was probably also the reason he had given her the money for the race, Roger had always said that he had good instincts and could recognize the true intent of a person.   
Hisana was clearly fascinated by his tales of the Grand Line and the Finn Dinghy races that took place on the bigger islands annually. He had told her that last bit in hopes that she would someday set sail on the Grand Line and although he felt slightly guilty about putting a clearly normal civilian on a path filled with danger Shanks couldn’t help but hope that he would meet this fascinating girl again if he couldn’t make her join his crew.

Sometime after midnight Shanks realized that his younger companion had fallen asleep during their conversation. More amused than peeved he maneuvered her into a piggy back position and carried her to his inn room. There he put her down on the bed while he took the floor and then they slept undisturbed until next morning.

XXXXXXXXX

The following day Shanks woke up first, Hisana continued to sleep deeply even with all the noise he made when he took a shower and then slipped on the wet tiles and banged his big toe hard against the wall.

When he was finished the red haired pirate was unsure what to do, at first he wanted to just leave without any trace left behind but it made him feel strangely guilty and so he decided against it and then promptly nearly got hit during his attempt to wake the grumpy black haired girl up.

The two ate their breakfast, two buns filled with jam while they leisurely walked through the village down to the port. They came to a stop in front of the ship that would take Shanks deeper into the Blue. Between them was a somewhat awkward silence and Shanks cursed himself for being so out of his depth, ‘God damn why is this saying goodbye thing always so hard?’

“Well, that’s it, uhm I mean…” Shanks couldn’t finish his sentence because Hisana gave him a hug and a quick peg on the cheek; she then pressed a note with her home address into his hand.

“This is my parents’ address; it would be nice if you could write me once in a while.”

She asked so hopefully that Shanks could do nothing else but nod dumbly for a moment before a warm grin stole itself on his face.

“Yeah I will do that!” he said and then boldly kissed her forehead before he walked up the plank with a dorky wave at her before the ship’s bustling crew caught his attention for a moment.

When he turned around again Hisana had been swallowed up by the crowd.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Shanks Interlude**

“Ugh… god damn my head!”

The nineteen year old pirate captain swore under his breath while he squinted and tried to find his shirt with half closed eyes, his head was really killing him and his mouth tasted like something had died in it.

Why was his shirt off again? Oh right something about a bet that he could attract girls shirtless faster than Genku with free beer. Slightly grinning Shanks fished his creased shirt out of an empty barrel on the deck. He had won that bet hands down and damn that busty blonde had been able to move!

A lot more cheerful than five minutes ago he wandered down into the galley and took a slice of bread and an apple out of the fridge, his poor stomach wouldn’t be able to take more than that and at least it would cover up the bad taste in his mouth until he could find his toothbrush.

**Hisana Interlude**

Hisana awoke bright and early like every day, she had learned to get as much sleep as possible in those unfamiliar hotel rooms she had spent her nights in and could mostly ignore the noises around her if she wanted. The moment her mind was halfway awake she started to stretch before she moved to the floor beside the bed to start her work out routine. This was the only thing that helped Hisana with alleviating her nerves before an important race.

Afterwards she leisurely walked down to the dock to check over her Finn dinghy for damages that could have occurred over the night. Fool play unfortunately was a popular way to disable the competition on the Grand Line and Hisana had to make emergency repairs more than once on her poor little racer boat. Happy to find it in an impeccable condition the black haired young woman made her way back to the inn to eat a healthy breakfast with her team. The others had plans to visit a nearby resort before the race to relax their muscles and prevent injuries but Hisana didn’t feel like it. She was always tired and easy to distract after visiting the hot springs and she really didn’t need that before a race. So she slowly wandered through the streets after splitting off from her the others and enjoyed the morning sun.

Hisana let herself relax while she watched the bustling atmosphere around her, when a certain smell let her look around. Across from her was a stand which sold squid balls, since she had been fourteen the food always made her feel nostalgic. On one hand she was reminded of the day she had met Shanks and had won her first race but on the other hand she also missed the red head and wondered what he was now doing. It was strange that she felt such a connection to person who was practically a stranger, after all she had only known him for a few hours before they had parted again.

Another glance at the food stand and Hisana finally made the decision to buy herself some as a special treat before her race, she could use the extra calories. Once she had gotten her treat Hisana couldn’t help but smile happily while she wandered further down the village, her thoughts wandered back to her encounter two years ago when she met Shanks. She was wondering what that knucklehead was doing at the moment. Hopefully building up his pirate crew more and visit different islands on the Grand Line.

After they split up Hisana had sailed home and showed off her winnings. Only three days later a representative of a local Finn Dinghy production company had visited her home and she had signed her first contract only a week later. Since then she had changed the company and race teams two times, each time after being recruited for a bigger company. The only down side was that she rarely spent time at home with her family. Hisana nowadays only visited for birthdays and wrote the occasional letter from the different places her job took her and now she was on the Grand Line and there was next to no contact aside from the two den den mushi calls that had been arranged before she even had left her home Island. Sighing the black haired girl’s shoulders dropped, she just hoped that her parents would someday forgive her for being such a bad daughter.

As Hisana turned around her elbow got hit and she lost the tray with her treat. She closed her eyes and slowly breathed in; she would NOT kill that person responsible for the loss of her food. Calm down, she told herself, this was not done deliberately. Slowly turning around she was met with a sheepish looking blond man with a blue bandana, a blue button down shirt and white trousers. Hisana also saw some pistols partly hidden on his sides and some pouches hanging from his belt.

The culprit was a pirate… what was it with her and pirates that made her loose her food??? Honestly!

“Ugh sorry, let me buy you new ones!” the older man said in a sheepish voice.

Sighing she nodded and was just about to turn around when an amused voice behind her told the blond guy, “It’s fine Yasopp, I will buy her the squid balls… after all it’s not the first time.”

Hisana’s eyes went wide and even while turning around she whispered, “Shanks…” before she nearly bowled him over in the next moment.

His booming laugher could be heard across the whole market and after Hisana calmed down a bit and relaxed her death grip, she noticed that they were surrounded by a group of mostly rough looking men that stared at them as if they weren’t sure what to make of her and the whole situation. Pointedly she looked at Shanks for an explanation and possibly an introduction.

Said pirate took in the raised eyebrows and leery smiles and promptly scratched his neck awkwardly while he addressed his men “Guys, this is Yamamoto Hisana, a friend of mine.”

Having done his duty to his crew he turned back to the female beside him “So Hisa-chan you came to the Grand Line! To see me again maybe!?” he teased her while he took in the changes in her stature.

“Pff don’t flatter yourself! I’m here because of the races of course!” Hisana said grinning while she took in the red head; he had grown since they had seen each other the last time.

Shanks eyes lit up at her answer and he asked conspiringly, “Are you participating today?” with a stupid eyebrow waggle.

Suppressing a giggle at the over the top expression, Hisana answered, “Yeah, I’m with the Matsuda company here. I have been racing with them for nearly four months now.”

Shanks eyebrows raised a bit before he asked, “Matsuda? Isn’t that one of the biggest Finn production companies on the Grand Line?”

“Yes… how do you know that?” the black haired girl asked curious.

Since when was Shanks a Finn Dinghy expert?

The man in front of her avoided eye contact while he rubbed his neck sheepishly, “Ah, eh well… I looked Finn racing up after I left two years ago.”

Hisana couldn’t help herself and pecked him on the side of his chin, he was even taller now than he was two years ago, although she also grew a few inches in that time.

“You can be really sweet sometimes.” She said with a fond smile.

Without giving the other males around her another look she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the fried squid balls stand.

“You promised.” She stated as she looked at him expectedly.

“Hai, hai.” Said red head snorted.

He smiled good naturedly and ordered two big portions of Hisana’s so loved treat, when the two turned around again Shanks’ men all had mischievous grins on their faces.

“Well, well isn’t that interesting…” Genku said, “I didn’t know you were so sweet Shanks.” he teased his captain while he fluttered his eyelashes in Shanks direction.

Hisana was amused by the antics of the crew and said, “Well, Shanks is only this nice to girls, so don’t expect him to treat you like this before you had a sex change!”

That made the rest of the crew laugh hysterically at Genku while Shanks just grinned and put his arm casually as you please around Hisana, while she munched contently on her squid balls. She gave him a glance out of the corner of his eyes before she leaned into the warm embrace and let herself relax. Shanks had made her feel safe the last time and that hadn’t changed.

“How long do you have time until the race begins?” Shanks asked the black haired girl under his arm, absently taking in the length of her bound hair and her delicate collar bones.

Said girl looked at her wrist watch and cursed, “Uhm, ah shit, only twenty minutes left! Sorry I have to run!”

With that she crammed the last two squid balls into her mouth like a chipmunk and started a full on sprint down to the port, leaving Shanks and his crew behind in her dust.

Grinning Shanks shook his head and turned to the others, “Hey what do you say, want to watch the race?” the others gave affirmative grins and grunts.

“So…” Ben drawled, uh oh that meant normally nothing but trouble for Shanks, “Yamamoto Hisana. How old is she, how long have you known her and since when do you have a crush on her?”

For a moment Shanks played with the thought of denying what his first mate was implying before he slumped his shoulders, that wouldn’t work with Ben.

“Damn it!” Shanks grumbled while he looked sullen down to the port, “She is sixteen now, I met her two years ago and since then… well I can’t forget her.” The pirate captain finally admitted when they were only a short distance away from the port.

Ben whistled, “Damn captain, that sucks, you don’t do things the easy way do you? She isn’t even legal for another two years.”

Sighing Shanks looked frustrated at his first mate, “Tell me about it! And I won’t start anything yet, the age gap is a bit too big for my liking. Pirate or not, I’m not taking advantage of her like that!”

To that Ben could only nod, his captain may be an idiot most of the times but when things turned serious you could count on Shanks to do the right thing. Still the whole situation was funny as hell for the first mate, from what he had seen Hisana was mostly obvious that Shanks acted like a love sick puppy around her, or at least acted like it. He was somewhat curious if the black haired teenager was really completely obvious of his captain’s feelings for her or just decided not to react to it.

“Well come on lover boy, we can’t miss the race of your little heart breaker!” he teased good naturedly while he dragged Shanks closer to the finish line.

“Now you are just making fun of me!” Shanks complained but followed Ben without much protest.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The race was going pretty well for the green eyed young woman. The weather conditions were nearly perfect, windy weather, the sun was shining and they even had relatively clear waters. Hisana wasn’t in the top field but that was okay, this were strong and experienced racers that leading the field with even faster boats. She had seen how they all had used their good starting positions to their full advantage, so Hisana was content to race as fast as she could and do her best because as much as she would love to win she knew when she was outclassed.

At least that was what she thought until she reached the third to last turn point. This point required a very tricky maneuver that, if you couldn’t control it, could sink your boat. With swift hands Hisana maneuvered her Fin dinghy securely around the check before aligning it back to the wind direction and the finish. The green eyed girl had already relaxed again after the tricky maneuver when she sailed around a group of cliffs and only missed the collision side of the three top racers by a hair breath. Seriously there was only a meter or two of water between her boat and the tilted over one of the man that she had been sure would win. While passing them she could hear them shout at each other furiously, though she resisted the urge to turn her head around.

Wow she had no idea that even half of those swear words existed!

The consequences of this collision didn’t really occur to her while she moved her Finn harder to the wind to not be dragged to either the cliffs on one side or the crashed Finn Dinghys on the other one but the moment she was back on open water she realized that she had just taken over the leading group. Grinning like a maniac the black haired teenager sailed last four miles undisputed by anyone out of the main field and then arrived at the finish with quite a bit space between her and the second and third place.

Her arrival was celebrated by her team medics and the manager through dancing and squealing at the boardwalk, they were just as surprised and elated as she was about her win. The second and the fourth place also went to her team and all three of the racers were grinning at each other like loons. For a team of newcomers to win the Kyuka island race was like hitting the jackpot. It meant a lot more sponsoring, more money and more races. Everything Hisana had always wanted!

The day went from good to awesome when Hisana spotted Shanks and his crew under the spectators. After a quick goodbye to her team that would sort out the winnings she made her way to the red haired pirate that was lounging with his first mate on the stone steps to the mountain church. While she drew nearer her distracted mind let her miss how some of the other male spectators checked her out, she normally was quite aware of the attention her looks gathered but her excitement let her ignore them.

Hisana was unaware but a certain red haired captain certainly wasn’t. Ben had to bite his cheek so that he wouldn’t start laughing in front of his already incensed captain, the red head was nearly pouting.

Hisana then came to a stop in front of Shanks and asked grinning, “And?”

“You have certainly improved; they had some surveillance and visual Den Den Mushis to show the race. That was a clever trick how you avoided the collision!” Shanks answered her readily while he gave her a warm smile.

“Thanks, but in this particular case I have to thank my dad, he showed me these maneuvers to escape the Sea Kings back at home.” then her eyes fell onto a suspicious package on Shanks side, “Oh is this, what I think it is?”

“And that’s my cue, Yamamoto-san, captain, have fun!” Ben said with a lazy hand wave.

“Oh, you are not going to celebrate with us?” Hisana asked slightly disappointed, she had wanted to get to know Shanks First Mate.

“Ah no, I’m sure the captain wouldn’t appreciate that.”

He smirked slightly in Shanks direction and with silent laughter and a grin to a confused looking Hisana he turned around and left the two alone. Shanks didn’t know it yet but his kicked puppy reaction to Hisana’s invitation to celebrate with her was going to be used as teasing material for years!

XXXXXXX

The two celebrated Hisana’s win again in solitude. This time it was at the abandoned mountain church over the village, again with takeout, expensive chocolate and this time sake for both of them. Just as two years ago Hisana fell asleep against Shanks shoulder and was then carried back by the red headed captain to sleep the rest of the night in Shanks room. Well, the captain’s cabin on the Arrow, Shank’s second ship in two years. It had been a trade ship of a wealthy merchant until recently when they had hijacked it in the port of Alabasta after the first ship Shanks had commandeered became too small for his crew. Now it had been repainted, armed and adjourned with Shanks Jolly Roger.

The minute Hisana woke up she knew that she wasn’t alone, the furnace of a body behind her kept her warm and toasty in the fresh morning air. A quick glance behind her confirmed her suspicion about the person. It was Shanks that held her in his arms. Still sleepy and very comfortable Hisana cuddled back into the older man. This was the best birthday present ever, even if it came four weeks to late. She hadn’t realized it fully because she had been so busy the last two years but she had missed him and his cheerful disposition more than she could have imagined. He had been so different from all her peers back at home, had shared her love for the sea and on purpose or not, he had only increased her wanderlust.

Unlike two years ago she was now aware of the way he unconsciously always seemed to touch her. At first she had been a bit unsure about that, she hadn’t a lot experience with men and like any other girl she had always been warned about the so called ‘bad touch’. When she had finally admitted to herself that she enjoyed the contact between them quite a bit, Hisana had relaxed. So what if Shanks wanted something more from her, it wasn’t as if she was unreceptive to such advances. After all she had to control herself to not break out in delighted shivers every time he spoke to her. His voice was even deeper then she remembered and god wasn’t it a treat to just listen to him when he spoke slowly and intently? Though she also liked his loud guwaffs and nearly cackling giggles.

While she mused about the hunk of a pirate beside her, said hunk slowly awoke, his sleepy brown eyes suddenly widening and taking in their position. Hisana who didn’t want to move, just tightened her grip on his arm as he tried to unwind his hands from around her.

“Don’t!” she grumbled warningly while she nestled closer to him, “It’s too early, go back to sleep!”

She would take advantage of this comfortable pillow slash furnace as long as possible even if Shanks didn’t seem to want to act on the tension between them.

Unbeknownst to Hisana, Shanks was thinking along the same lines, but unlike her he was feeling guilty. Hadn’t he promised Ben that he would not take advantage of her? But as he thought further of this compromising situation, wasn’t it her that took advantage of him as human pillow? Slightly mollified he dragged her further into his body and breathed in the smell of her hair, she smelled like sea water and sun lotion, which was strangely enough a very appealing smell to him. While he mused further over that young woman in his arms, he felt how one of her legs weaseled itself between his and he was suddenly glad that the typical morning wood had decided to stay away, this could have been potentially very embarrassing for him.

They dozed for another hour until the sun slowly came in through his porthole and noises on deck were heard, it seemed as if a part of the crew was already awake.

Grumbling Shanks hid his head in Hisana’s neck, it seemed as if their time together would be cut short again. She had told him that her team would leave the port with a ship that would departure at noon while his crew would stay for another day to stock up. She had also given him a new address for his letters, the Finn company’s headquarters would forward letters to her whenever she was near.

The two finally came to the conclusion that they couldn’t stay inside Shanks cabin anymore and got up, both enjoyed the comfortable silence while they got some fruit from the kitchens and then left the ship together. Some would think that sleeping in the same bed would have made the situation extremely awkward and uncomfortable but exactly the opposite happened. It felt right, like it was meant to be. That thought swirled around both their minds while Shanks brought her back to her hotel.

Standing in front of the building they both didn’t seem to know what to say until Hisana finally broke the silence.

“I hate the fact that I don’t know when I will see you again.” Hisana admitted with a defeated sigh.

Shanks had to clear his voice at this, “I know, me too, but let’s just treasure these moments and I will write you as much as possible and hey maybe next time we will have more time to spend together.”

The last part was said with a soft smile, Hisana couldn’t even answer with her throat suddenly swollen shut, she just nodded and then enjoyed the hug that Shanks gave her. God she was falling in love with a pirate she had only met twice and wasn’t sure if she would ever see again! She was so god damn stupid! With a last glance back she saw his red hair vanish in the morning rush.  
Eyes suspiciously wet she couldn’t stop herself from hoping that she would see him again, and that hopefully soon!

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It took another three years before Hisana saw Shanks again.

Thanks to his infrequent letters and the bounty posters Hisana had a pretty good idea what was happening in his life. Still she missed him and the feelings for him hadn’t diminished one bit since the goodbye in front of her hotel. She had tried to shrug it off as a simple crush, but that was easier said than done.

Hisana had tried to forget him and move on, she had dated a few men that she met during her trips between the isles and even slept with two of them, both times she had regretted deeply.  
During her first time she was completely drunk and it had hurt and had been uncomfortable until the end. At least that asshole used a condom. She had left as soon as he had fallen asleep, ashamed and disappointed. It had taken her nearly 5 months to date again and another two to finally sleep with a guy named Sam, and even though it wasn’t uncomfortable or hurt it was still disappointing and she left unsatisfied. After that she simply stopped dating, none of the men she went out with had made her feel like Shanks, none of them could make her laugh so easily or feel so protected.

She was nineteen now and had decided that casual dating just wasn’t for her, Hisana concentrated herself fully on her racing carrier and saving up the money so that she could settle somewhere where she could pass her passion onto others. Hisana had enjoyed lecturing in front of a group of new racers and showing them different tricks to make their boats faster during the race, she wouldn’t mind running her own sailing school once she had ended her racing career, which wasn’t so far off as she would have thought even two years ago. Of course she loved the thrill of the race and the rush when she arrived in the finish and was celebrated by the masses, but the constantly travelling between the islands was starting to wear her down.

As a top racer she wasn’t part of a team anymore, they just sent her to the location and an already participating team would take care of her medical needs, Hisana had been feeling lonely for the last months. Depressed Hisana sighed and took in the ceiling of her cabin, the whole day she had been in a bad mood and these depressive thoughts just made it worse for her.

Her musings were interrupted by a loud crack and then the ship gave a violent jolt that nearly knocked her out when her head hit the cabin wall. Confused and anxious Hisana took her duffel bag, her only luggage and ran on deck.   
Outside she could barely see because of the wind and the rain that was whipping in her face. Turning around to protect her face a bit of the wind her eyes widened as she saw the felled main mast that was lying sideways and was slowly tipping the ship over. With a last glance to the panicking crew and passengers Hisana ran to the next rescue boat, threw her duffel bag in and started to free it from the ropes, this storm would kill her if she didn’t get away right now.

Nearly finished she turned around to call to the other passengers and crew members to share it with them. Standing slightly hunched over said rescue boat she was completely unprepared for the second jolt that tilted the ship completely to the side.   
The small boat she was holding onto was only hanging on one last rope that released during the jolt and dragged her down into the ice cold water. Miraculously the boat hit the surface on the right side and when Hisana surfaced she could grab onto the side wall before it drifted away from her.

With her last strength she hauled herself up into the boat and tied herself down between the boat seats. It felt like she was endlessly drifting in the storm thrown up a wave and down on the other side.

Sometime in the morning hours the storm calmed down and she finally fell asleep.

XXXXXXXX

She had been drifting nearly a day since the ship she was traveling on sank. She didn’t try to delude herself with the thought that the ship could have somehow not sunken, she was only praying that as much people as possible had survived the storm.

Through some unbelievable luck her duffel bag had somehow stayed inside the small rescue boat during the night and she had now two bottles of water and some power bars, which she would have had to make last until she was found, so she only took tiny sips when the thirst became unbearable. At least she hadn’t swallowed salt water when she had been shipwrecked.

Hisana spent the next two days like this on the open sea.

Thankfully fate seemed to intervene for the black haired woman because on the third day she was discovered through sheer luck by a pirate in the crow’s nest.

**Shanks Interlude**

Said pirate was relatively new to the Red Hair Pirates and was still very attentive while doing his chores. He had seen something reflecting on the sea surface and after a closer look through the spy glass and confirming that it was a rescue boat he had alerted the crew with a loud cry “Rescue boat!”

Shanks who had been bored to death on that day was suddenly awake, finally something was happening! The last two weeks they had sighted no marine ship, no island. There hadn’t been even one tiny storm to interrupt his suffering! He had his crew change course into the direction of the tiny rescue boat, this was at least worth a look.

Shanks was alerted that the boat was occupied through Yasopp’s loud voice, who had used one of his spy glasses to take a closer look after they had crossed half of the distance. Oh this was getting more and more exciting, even if that meant that somewhere near a ship must have sunken.

Two of his crew members climbed down when they trimmed their sails and nearly stopped besides the boat. The person inside was not clearly recognizable, upper body slumped over and the black hair fell over the face; this person was either unconscious or dead. They checked for a pulse and after a confirmation that the person was still alive and that it was a woman, extra ropes were thrown to them to heave the survivor on board. One of the two crew members took the duffel bag that was still inside the boat before climbing back on board.

Now really curious Shanks moved closer to the unconscious woman and then sharply sucked in air when he got a good look at her face. With a shuffle that was more a stumble than a step the red haired captain was kneeling beside the familiar figure.

Absolutely horrified he whispered, “Hisana!”

Shanks saw Ben and Yasopp stiffening behind him when he turned into their direction for help.

Before his brain kicked in and he shouted over the deck “Someone get the doctor!”

The panicked voice of their captain sent the rest of the crew in a worried frenzy. A good part of them knew the tiny woman in their captain’s arms personally and the rest had heard about her when the senior members teased their captain about his crush.

**Hisana Interlude**

Hisana woke up with a splitting headache in a vaguely familiar environment. Confused because the last thing she could remember was the unforgiving sun, she sat up and took in the cabin.   
Hisana’s heart started to speed up until her pulse was pounding in her ears, this looked like Shanks cabin but that was impossible! Getting out of the luxurious double bed she noticed that she was clothed only in a man’s white button down and her underwear. Swallowing she searched for the rest of her clothes and found them to her relief laid out over the chair beside the small table.

When she stood up to reach for them she felt nauseous and felt like everything was turning, she had to prop herself up against the wall to calm herself down a bit. After putting on her clothes she opened the door and slowly made her way up to the deck, she met nobody on her way up.   
When she finally reached the deck the sun blinded her for a moment and then she saw him, yellow straw hat, red hair, white shirt, Capri’s, and now with a red cloth around his hips.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Hisana thought she had only whispered his name, but somehow he must have heard it because he turned around and she could see his eyes widening. The concern and elation in his unbelievable deep brown eyes and the sudden eye contact with him made Hisana’s knees weak and she stumbled a little bit and had to grab her head to stop the vertigo. Before she could look up again, Shanks was by her side and grabbed her arms to support her. With a quick yell behind him he gave the helm to Ben while he lifted Hisana into his arms to carry her back to his cabin. The black haired woman protested weakly but that was completely ignored, instead Shanks just tightened the grip a bit and stared down unreadable at her.

His gaze kept traveling over her body until he finally said worriedly, “You shouldn’t be outside, the Doc said that you had a nasty heat stroke. So stay inside and drink a lot!”

Hisana could only stare up at Shanks in confusion and wonder, slowly she realized that this wasn’t a sun induced hallucination, that Shanks really WAS here carrying her into his room and settling her down gently on his bed.

She had found him.

The first tears came nearly unnoticeable and only after they had begun to trickle down in a steady stream Hisana realized that she was crying. Then a sob escaped her throat and another. Shanks sat beside her, hands hovering awkwardly and clearly unsure what to do. In the end it was Hisana who initiated the hug, she weaved her hands around his neck and burrowed her head in his neck.

“Hisana… hey it’s okay you are safe now.” Shanks said while he softly stroked through her hair and closed his eyes to better feel the way her body pressed to his.

Now that she was finally awake it hit him like a ton of bricks. If that newbie hadn’t been so vigilant and had missed her, Hisana could have easily died in the next few hours. A heat stroke was not something that should be taken lightly! Shanks couldn’t help himself, with that realization in the back if his mind he started to mindlessly pepper her face and head with kisses, his lips became wet from the only slowly drying tears and murmured a steady stream of reassuring words and how thankful he was that he had found her just in time.

Hisana enjoyed how Shanks cradled her face between his hands and softly petted her, after a while he stood up and brought a water carafe and a glass over to her. While Hisana drank his eyes never left her features. She was aware that she had to look awful, blotched eyes, runny nose and by the way her cheeks, nose and forehead felt she had the mother of all sunburns, her skin was so going to peal in a few days! Even while she thought all that her mind could only truly concentrate on one thing, she had finally found him again!

When her thirst was finally drenched for the moment she set her glass down and asked in a small voice, “Lay down with me… please!”

The last part was said so desperately that Shanks would have complied with anything she had wanted. Moving her further inside on the bed he took extra care not to jostle her head. After that he removed his boots and locked the door. Climbing after her he moved until she was only a few inches away from her and once he had settled Hisana turned onto her side and laid her sunburned cheek on his right pectoral, her right hand and foot were lazy thrown over his body.

Shanks eyes went big when he felt her moving half on top of him, his hands automatically hugged her closer and then he couldn’t help himself and moved her lax body slightly up and in the middle of his body until her head was hidden in his neck and her feet slumped on each side of his body. The black haired woman didn’t seem to mind and was sighing contently, her sighing turning into purring as Shanks hands wandered up and down her back to relax her sore muscles.

Hisana was in heaven, it was strange she hadn’t seen Shanks for three years and they still had this instant connection back, no awkwardness, no embarrassing moments, just contentment and the desire for more contact. Absolute no comparison to the dating she had done!

While the two reclined like that on the bed Hisana told him what had led to her being in this rescue boat and even later on she told him of the three years that they hadn’t seen each other. Of the adventures, her failures and wins and even about her loneliness, it was a relief to finally talk about it and with somebody who understood her fascination with the sea and not the race on itself.  
She felt Shank under her stiffen as she told him vaguely of her dating attempts and how they all seemed to lack. Only after she admitted the last part Shanks relaxed once more and his reaction gave her hope, hope that now maybe the two of them could have a chance, no matter how short lived. They spend nearly two hours like this until Hisana was too exhausted to stay awake any longer and fell asleep.

Shanks used the time she spent sleeping to take over the helm again and update his first mate about Hisana’s condition.

In the evening Shanks woke Hisana for a quick check up by the ship doctor that he had acquired only a few months ago, before he led her down in the galley to eat a light dinner, the first substantial food after three days on sea.  
There she was also introduced to his crew members old and new. Hisana couldn’t help but smile, it was a rowdy and very lively bunch. She liked Shanks crew, especially after they started teasing him, Hisana couldn’t hide the delighted giggles when the so feared pirate captain turned bead red while they informed her about his mishaps and the funny situations he had been caught up in during his time as their captain.

That night she once again slept in Shanks cabin, the doctor had offered her his cabin but she had politely declined, after all she enjoyed Shanks embrace and steady heart beat that warded off all of her nightmares.

XXXXXXXXX

**Hisana Interlude**

The Red Hair pirates arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago only a week later.

In her time on Shanks ship Hisana got to know the crew better. Mainly Ben, Yasopp and Lucky Roo who were the most senior pirates on the ship but also the kind young doctor that had examined her when they found her unconscious and various members of the crew.

They enjoyed retelling their adventures but thankfully kept the more gory details of their fights away from her ears after they saw how Hisana had reacted to the first few stories. She didn’t condemn them for their battle lust but it was clearly visible that it wasn’t something she wanted to hear about in great detail.

Especially Ben had endeared himself to her, he was easily 10 years older than all the other members, and around 15 years older than her. The black haired pirate that favored a giant riffle was calm, collected and organized in contrast to Shanks who was a bit of an air head in comparison. He also had a wicked sense of humor, very dry and sarcastic. In Hisana’s opinion perfect older brother material!

So even though a big part of her time onboard was spent with the crew, most of the time Hisana was with her red haired crush, be it on deck listening to him while he explained the differences of navigating a big ship to her or in the evenings while they ate with his crew, always right beside him.

Shanks kept watching her, he always seemed to know where she was, relaxing when Hisana was in his sight and tracking her with his warm chocolate brown eyes, the pirate captain was anticipating her needs like nobody, not even her parents had before and Hisana found that she very much enjoyed this quiet attention.   
Additionally his crew seemed to constantly and mercilessly tease him about her, more or less subtle and Shanks didn’t blink an eye anymore, just took the whole ribbing with a good natured grind and a wistful smile that made Hisana ache. Furthermore none of the other pirates even so much as flirted in her direction, which she had become quite accustomed too during her travels between the different islands, it was a refreshing change.

XXXXXXXX

Leaning against the balustrade of the upper deck and watching the crew at work docking at the Mangrove twenty four, Hisana couldn’t hide the happy, if a little bit troubled smile that crept up her face. She was in the middle of contemplating if she should act on their mutual attraction or leave it be. And the longer she contemplated the more she was inclined to just throw caution in the wind and kiss Shanks, no matter how short their time together would be. In the last few days Shanks had explained to her that they were on the way to the New World.

While her eyes wandered over the many bubbles that bounced between the mangroves and encased parts of the docking area, Hisana’s thoughts turned to the last part of the Grand Line. She had heard a lot horror stories about the most dangerous sea in the world. Hisana couldn’t help herself but worry about the Red Hair pirates, a lot of strong pirate crews had found their demise in those waters and she prayed imploringly that this wouldn’t happen to Shanks crew.

Sighing deeply she turned around and walked back to Shanks cabin, the crew would spent the next few days here while they waited for their ship to be coated with a giant bubble before they could continue their journey. And here was also where their paths would go separate ways. As much as Hisana would love to continue traveling with them, it was impossible. She had her responsibilities to her company, and even without those she wouldn’t go with them.

Let’s face it, Hisana wasn’t a fighter and frankly after she had remembered her former life, she didn’t have the drive to learn a combat style or a weapon. The memories of being forced into dangerous situations and having to find her way out of them in her previous life had been enough for her thank you very much!!!  
As somebody travelling with the Red Haired pirates she would have a bounty faster than she could say Marine Headquarters, and not being a fighter wouldn’t help her in that case! And to be honest, she enjoyed her relative anonymousness in this world, no overeager people trying to shake her hand or using her as a means to an end.

So no, travelling with them was definitely out of question!!!

Sighing depressed and a little bit heartbroken she packed her duffel bag and made her way back on deck.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Hisana Interlude**

Hisana had decided to get herself a hotel room as soon as they landed, so as to make the separation not as hard on her and Shanks, even if she would miss his constant reassuring presence in her bed that kept the nightmares away and herself warm.

When the ship was finally secured to the giant mangrove tree Hisana joined a few of the younger pirates in exploring the area. She knew that Shanks and Ben were occupied with searching for a coating mechanic to get their ship ready for traveling underwater. Ben had explained it to her but the concept of a ship diving underneath a continent only incased in a giant soap bubble hadn’t really sat well with her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Exploring the constructions built alongside the trunk of the Mangrove tree, Hisana didn’t notice two burly men watching her and exchanging greedy looks. The shorter of the two mumbled about different Beli sums while the blue haired one kept tracing her body with his eyes.

Luckily for her Noah, the pirate who had discovered her rescue boat a week ago had kept a close eye on her and her surroundings, feeling responsible for her after saving her life and made two of the senior crew members aware of the shady men watching their captain’s sweetheart. With a few quick steps they arrived and surrounded the still oblivious young woman. Inwardly they sighed, they would have to keep a closer eye on her, she was still so very naïve for her age, but on the other hand she WAS a civilian so they shouldn’t expect stronger self awareness.

Noah contemplated the consequences of leaving her here without protection; the slavers had become more and more daring in the last few years, even going after pirates! Better to not let her get captured, Shanks would throw a fit and rampage through the Archipelago until he had her back and that they couldn’t risk with the World Nobles walking around, they would have a Marine Admiral breathing down their necks faster than they could say One Piece!!!

The news about her near kidnapping had been taken very seriously by Shanks, who from then on didn’t leave Hisana’s side or more like Shanks liked to drag Hisana everywhere he went. Said black haired racer thought that endearing and used his behavior to her advantage to spend even more time with the captain.

This was also the reason why the two of them sat on a balcony built into the Mangrove tree, drinking sake and watching the pirates underneath them make fools out of themselves while indulging quite heavily in the various alcoholic beverages. Shanks was now already on his 14th bottle while Hisana was still on her 4th, the two were probably equally drunk, not enough to lose all sense but their inhibitions were severely lowered.

Giggling Hisana leaned against the pirate captain, Shanks was such a goof ball sometimes, her eyes became soft while she watched him out of the corners of her eyes until she slowly turned to face him, it was now or never.

Shanks noticed her gaze and answered with a questioning one, Hisana’s smile just got a tad bigger before she mischievously said, “Shanks? I have to test something!”

The twenty two year old pirate furrowed his brows, “Test something?”

“Uhuh!” and with that she leaned over and softly pecked him on his lips, before she withdrew while she kept watching him.

Shanks eyes became impossibly wide before he swallowed and responded in a surprisingly hoarse voice said, “You did it wrong.”

Hisana cocked her head, “Wrong? How d…” she couldn’t finish her sentence because Shanks lips were suddenly back on hers, warm, slightly coarse and chapped and slowly pressing more firmly against her own.

Hisana gasped and Shanks used the opening between her lips to latch onto her bottom lip and gently suck on it. He sent delightful shivers down the black haired woman’s spine while his arms encased her and pulled her into his lap, she fit perfectly into his arms.   
Hisana’s hands found his broad shoulders and back and drew him closer, her upper body smashed against his while she desperately tried to inhale his smell and burn his taste into her mind.

Shanks tasted like the sake he had drunk shortly before he started to kiss her. His lips were coarse from the sea but getting softer while they continued kissing. Hisana loved how he tasted and felt against her, but what really made her lose her mind was his smell. She had already noticed it throughout the week, but in right this moment it was overwhelming and doing things to her body and her raging hormones that she would have never thought possible.  
Shanks smelled like the sandal wood of his after shave, but underneath it she could smell the sea as well as his very own smell, slightly musky and so very, very male that it made her dizzy!  
Shuddering again Hisana noticed that between those earth shattering kisses and the groping that was happening they were moving from their little hidden place in direction of her hotel that was only two levels up. Sighing dissatisfied Hisana regretfully dislodged herself from Shanks mouth before she grabbed his hand and led him as fast as possible to her hotel room.

**Lemon**

When they arrived in her room, Shanks had already latched his lips against her neck once more. A steady flow of sighs and low moans escaped Hisana while she discarded Shanks cloak and impatiently tugged at his buttons. One of them ripped off but neither of the two cared one bit.

They landed on Hisana’s bed, both down to their underwear and desperately craving more. In a moment of clarity Hisana grabbed her duffel bag and fished out a package of condoms that she always carried around with her, just in case. Shanks took the condom out of her hand and laid it beside him while he divested her off her last clothing and latched onto her breasts, kissing and nipping along them. Hisana was completely lost while she tried to concentrate on everything Shanks did to her body until he suddenly hovered between her legs, naked as the day he was born and already donned on the condom. When did that happen? She asked herself somewhat distractedly while she tried to concentrate on whatever question he had just asked.

Shanks tried desperately to control himself, he had to ask her before he did anything, he had to, he would never forgive himself if she had the slightest doubt about this.

So he swallowed hard and asked in a hoarse and slightly desperate voice, “Y-you sure that’s what you want?”

And was unbelievably relieved when she gave a frustrated sound from her and told him to get a move on, and yes this was what she wanted!

When Shanks finally breached her, Hisana was slick and swollen and more than ready, it was very snug, nearly uncomfortable she probably hadn’t slept with anybody in a long time, but even that feeling vanished after he was fully seated in her and she relaxed her muscles somewhat. Drawing in a deep breath Hisana slightly wiggled with a mischievous grin, and Shanks could only moan above her, that damn minx!

Christ but she was a tease! And then she moved purposely, lifting her hips slightly to meet Shanks’. Cursing under his breath the pirate captain couldn’t hold back anymore, he moved a bit back and then slammed home into her. Hisana’s instant and loud response made him grit his teeth, he wouldn’t give in yet, even when the black haired woman under him was seriously endangering his self control. Drawing in a shaking breath he steadied his thrusts into a slow rhythm.

Shanks couldn’t hold back the deep moans that were now slipping out of his mouth, Hisana felt even better than he had dared to dream, and he had fantasized about this moment for a long long time, she was hot and tight and oh so sexy while she moved against him and her moans and screams spurred him even more on, he wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up before he went crazy!

Hisana’s moans became more and more desperate with each thrust. This was, this was so completely different from her other sexual encounters, it felt amazing and terrifying at the same time, she didn’t know if she should move closer or away. She settled to just undulate against the red haired man above her that had started to shower her body with kisses while he took her deep and slow before he steadily won at momentum. And then he was suddenly hitting something inside of her and all she could do was scream. Again and again and again, Hisana was going crazy, this was what she had been missing out on? The black haired woman didn’t know where was up and where down, the only thing she felt was pleasure, in various amounts but it still was pleasure, all of it. Even his borderline brutal thrusts felt absolutely amazing, Hisana felt her body begin to tense without any conscious effort and the black haired woman could only gasp for air one last time and hold on while the pirate above her catapulted them to Nirvana before everything went black.

Her last thoughts were that they would definitely repeat that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Lemon**

_…, gasping above him while she leisurely rode him. Her black hair falling behind her like a curtain, her head tilted back and mouth slightly open, moaning and sighing while her excruciating slow pace drove him crazy,…_

Abruptly Shanks was awake, the wet dream still in his mind when an unfamiliar warmth around his most sensitive organ made him moan and sink back into the pillow. Shanks could only look amazed at the black head between his legs and then the emerald eyes that looked up at him teasingly while she caressed his legs and stomach. The minx had him moaning embarrassing loud und holding desperately onto his self control, he fought against the urge to thrust up into her warm mouth, what the hell did she think she was doing??? Oh… all thoughts in the pirate captains head vanished when the hands that had caressed his legs moved to his balls and the lower part of his cock and Hisana began to suck earnestly. It didn’t take long and Shanks came embarrassingly fast, shouting her name while he came down her throat.

Hisana hadn’t been prepared for Shanks coming, it nearly choked her while she tried to swallow and not think about the taste too much. When her red haired lover finally sank back, completely boneless and breathing heavy, she made her way quickly to the bathroom and washed her mouth and hands before she joined him once again in the bed.

Hisana had awoken earlier that morning and found herself curious and exited about coming face to face with Shanks morning wood. She had been unable to resist such an opportunity.

**Lemon End**

Hisana flobbed down beside Shanks again, only clothed in his shirt that was buttoned loosely while she smiled and chirped, “Good Morning.”

Shanks looked at her and then chuckled, “And what a good morning this was. Vixen!”

The last part he said with a grin while he leaned over and kissed her thoroughly. He then pulled her over so that she lay on top of him while he moved the blanket back over them, pressing their bodies together and just basking in each other’s warmth.

The two kept cuddling long into the morning, not caring about anything else then the other person in the bed. Shanks had repaid the favor only an hour later and after he had had Hisana screaming while she contracted around his tongue, he took her a second time, this time from behind with her on her elbows and knees.   
The woman underneath him had been a shaking mess after he had finished with her and Shanks couldn’t help but grin smugly while he stroked her hair out of her face. As an answer for his arrogant grin he got a half hearted slap against his shoulder, Hisana was too tired for anything else.

After lunch in the hotel room the two continued their exploring of the island. Hisana especially loved the amusement park and the observation deck on the top of the mangroves, the view was fantastic!

In between their exploring Shanks dropped in with Ben to check up on the crew, his first mate just rolled his eyes and waved him back to Hisana. The only thing that he and the more observant part of the crew thought was ‘FINALLY’. They watched amused as the couple ambled down the dock hand in hand, oblivious to the world around them, basking in their new found love.

Ben was happy for his captain, he really was but there was a nagging feeling in him that the woman in Shanks arms could be his undoing, the undoing of the whole crew if she asked him to stay. The black haired First Mate shook his head, enough of that he wouldn’t worry about that kind of possibility until it happened.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hisana and Shanks spent the next three days in much the same fashion, lots of talking, joking, exploring and sex. Dear Lord had they sex. Hisana thanked all the gods again and again for Shanks experience and stamina, he could literally screw her into unconsciousness when she made him lose control. It was a heady feeling, one that even the constant soreness couldn’t diminish. The pirate captain had opened her eyes to the carnal pleasures in live and never disappointed her, everything that he showed her was new and interesting. She didn’t like everything but she was always satisfied in the end and nothing could remove the satisfied glow she wore like a glow around her. Hisana was blissfully happy, like she had never been before in her live, or the one before that. Was that how love was supposed to work? She felt like nothing could bring her down, even though she knew that their parting was coming nearer and nearer.

Shanks and Hisana never talked about their feelings out in the open, hell they didn’t even talk about the bubble coating of his ship that was coming to an end and with that the departure of Shanks’ crew. But what they didn’t say with words, they expressed even more intensely with gestures and touches. The way Hisana liked to stroke over Shanks heart and cheek raising goose bumps wherever she touched or the way Shanks tenderly kissed her neck when she stood in front of him, which made her shiver and her nipples tighten. The lingering gazes and secret smiles, all this conveyed more emotion then three words could ever do.

And so their time together came to an end.

Hisana had booked herself a place on a merchant ship that would bring her to the headquarters of her company, it was scheduled to leave a day after Shanks’ crew were sailing, they were now finishing up the last shopping trips and stocking up on supplies for their journey. Hisana had called the company headquarters and had given them a vague idea of what had happened in the last few weeks. Apparently her employers had been frantic when she, one of their star racers hadn’t arrived on time to the race and then found out that her ship had sunk! Hisana wasn’t looking forward to returning to the place, it suddenly felt cold to her.

When the time finally came to say goodbye it was surprisingly short and tearless. Shanks and Hisana had known it was coming, just as they had known that both of them loved the sea and couldn’t do without it. Of course Hisana could have asked Shanks to stay, hell maybe he would have, but he would have always asked himself ‘what if’ and she couldn’t do that to him. When you really loved somebody you didn’t stand in the way of their dreams and hopes. And so their goodbye was just a surprisingly chaste kiss before the plank leading up to the ship and a whispered plead from Hisana to be carefully and stay save.

Shanks didn’t look back as he walked up to the ship, his eyes had taken a slightly hard sheen, his shoulders were stiff and his lips were pressed together. He was thankful that Hisana didn’t say anything. Had she, Shanks knew that he would have stayed, he would have thrown everything overboard for this woman… but she hadn’t… she had let him go and maybe it was this gesture that had catapulted Hisana even higher up in his heart, right to the top where she took her rightful place next to his beloved sea.

After the ship was maneuvered out of the port he couldn’t help himself but throw a last glance at this amazing woman that he had the luck to know and love. With his spy-glass Shanks caught her sitting on the port, her legs dangling in the water and watching his ship slowly sinking into the ocean. He could see tears glittering on her cheeks but even so, she had a small smile on her lips and there was no grief to be seen.

Shanks vowed right then that they would meet again.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Hisana Interlude**

The next two months were somewhat of a blur for Hisana, when asked she would only remember that everything seemed like routine, she was going through the motions but there was no heart, no passion behind it. Sure she still won most of her races but the excitement before and after wouldn’t really build up like before, everything looked muted and dull. Her days would have probably continued like this until she couldn’t take it anymore but something caught her notice during one of her trips.

She hadn’t had her period for nearly six weeks, confused she took out her planer and checked the date, she should have had her period right during the race in Keikun… the race she had missed because the ship had sunken and she had been picked up by Shanks… Shanks oh crap! Hisana’s heart began to hammer while she made her way down to the local pharmacy.

Positive…

Great, fantastic, of course she was pregnant from the four day sex marathon she had had with Shanks. God damn it, they had even used condoms every time for heaven’s sake!!! Ugh and even though she was sure that he was the love of her life she had no idea where he was or if he even wanted this child.

Sighing depressed and unsure about what to do Hisana rubbed her hand over her suspiciously wet eyes. She was really in deep trouble, a child would change everything for her. Not only that she would have to change her occupation, racing after all wasn’t completely safe while pregnant but she also would have to be careful around the Marines. Should they ever catch word of her having the child of the infamous Red hair Shanks, they would hunt her down until both her and the baby were dead.

On the positive side, Hisana didn’t really have to think about having this baby or not, she would love it, after all it was hers that it also carried Shanks genes was just the icing on the cake. Hisana had wished for a family of her own, especially after her birth family in this world had died two years ago without her being able to say goodbye. Hisana had felt wretched and guilty for months on end and only scraped past a depression by a hair’s breadth.

If she had had any family left in the East Blue, she would have considered returning back there, but since her parents and younger brother died during an epidemic that had completely wiped out 5 isles before they had contained it, she hadn’t anybody important left. Only a few distant second cousins she had heard about once or twice and those didn’t count in her opinion. No she would have to find a place where she could settle and raise a child, preferably somewhere without any pirate attacks and Marines bases.

Having made her mind up Hisana threw the pregnancy test into the bin and packed the last of her clothes into the duffel bag. She would still participate in the next three races and win as much money as possible. After that she would have to inform the company that she was taking maternity leave and start looking into a place of her own. The black haired young woman was suddenly more than glad that she had never thrown out the money she had earned unnecessarily. With a bit work and creativity Hisana was sure that she could stretch the money she had in her bank account to last her for the next four to six years. With a baby her costs would of course rise so she really would have to think of a way to earn some extra money to support both of them. The black haired woman’s gaze fell on her still flat stomach and she stretched both hands over it, right there was growing a child… it was quite the daunting thought.

XXXXXXX

Two months later Hisana was seen off by her former colleagues and team healers who wished her the best of luck. She was now four months pregnant and slowly began to show, her stomach had begun to harden and a small bump was visible when she stood sideways in front of a mirror.

The first few days after leaving the Finn Dinghy company Hisana travelled around the area she normally raced in. A conversation between two middle aged women on which she eavesdropped then pointed her to a small group of islands close to the Sabaody Archipelago. The two women had been bad mouthing the place because it was a small fishing community and didn’t have any interesting attractions or famous inhabitants which apparently made it useless and boring. Hisana had perked up at that, this could be a perfect place to raise her child away from the eyes of the world.

When she arrived at said fishing community she felt instantly at home, Fuusa reminded her somewhat of her childhood home if only vaguely, the people of the East Blue and the ones living on the Grand line were completely different types of people.

Hisana purchased a small house hidden by the cliffs of the shore line and if you didn’t know where to look it was good as invisible from the main village of the isle and with any luck pirates and marines would miss it if they didn’t search too closely, which was a serious advantage in her opinion. Additionally to that she had hired some of the men in the village to build her a private dock at the closest accessible location to the house as well as repair the slightly declined house.

Most of the villagers were welcoming and friendly to the new arrival on the island, only some old biddies were disapproving of her condition but quite honestly Hisana didn’t care, the opinion of busy bodies had never really interested her.

In the next few months the black haired racer turned the house and adjourning garden into a home for her and her future child. During the time in which she still could move with relative ease she built a vegetable and herb garden that would supply most of the fresh vegetables and fruits in the next months and years to come, after all why spend more money than absolute necessary if you can grow most of the things at home?

While her pregnancy progressed she wished more than once for Shanks, it hurt her to know that he was sailing somewhere on the sea without any idea that he was going to be a father soon. Especially during the time the baby started moving for the first time, she would randomly burst into tears in the otherwise empty house. That her hormone level was elevated didn’t help her.

XXXXXX

It was in the end of May when she gave birth to her daughter, luckily for her the other mothers in the village had started to send their older children to visit her when Hisana’s last month began. They would either carry her things or just accompany the heavily pregnant woman and keep her from doing something too stressful.

On that faithful day the son of her closest neighbors had just entered her garden when her water broke. Hisana had had false labor in the weeks before and stubborn as she was she didn’t want to go to the doctor because of a false alarm again.  
The seventeen year old Koji, took one look at the fluid on the floor, grabbed her packed overnight bag and supported Hisana on the ten minute walk through the woods. The last two hundred meters he even carried her, Hisana’s last contraction had made it unable for her to move. As soon as they came into seeing distance of the village he was relieved from his burden by a fisher who had seen them coming out of the woods.

Including the hours before her water broke; Hisana had been in labor for close to eighteen hours and was deadly exhausted after her ordeal. But just like any other woman on the planet she forgot the painful hours before hand in the minute she held her daughter in her arms, Hisana had never been happier as she stared down at Shanks’ and her baby.

She named her little girl Hisoka and recovered the next three days in the house of the doctor before she was allowed back into her own home. Said doctor was a twenty three year old prodigy by the name of Kaluah, she had been learning to become a doctor since she had turned ten and became the warden of the local ‘witch’ doctor. A very surly woman, who had thought that all men were idiots but she had known her illnesses, medicines and herb tinctures. Kaluah had taken her place a year ago after she had died, giving the village an extra doctor.

During the months and years following Hisoka’s birth, Kaluah became a very close friend of Hisana’s. Later her two apprentices, Takao and Maya, also orphans, became also very important figures in Hisana’s and Hisoka’s life.

Hisoka’s hair color, which had at first been a dark black brownish color, changed in the next five months to a fiery red just like her dad’s, her eyes on the other hand turned from light blue to emerald green, like her mothers. Hisana was strongly reminded of her birth mother in her former life; without a doubt Hisoka would be stunning when she grew up.

XXXXXX

In the following five years Hisana spent most of her time raising and teaching her daughter but she also took up fishing and diving for pearls again. Hisana had nearly forgotten how much fun she had had during her youth while diving through the waters of the East Blue. The Grand Line turned out to be even more interesting though Hisana did have more than one shark scare while exploring the coast line. It was here that she first developed what she would later know as haki. At first the power that reminded her a bit of magic was vastly unreliable and she could only use it in life or death situations. Through sheer stubbornness Hisana finally started to receive results some time after Hisoka’s third birthday. It made diving and fishing a lot safer for her, Hisana sold the excess sea food while she kept the pearls for herself. When she noticed that the amount of pearls became ridiculous inside the house she took some classes on an island over and started to make necklaces, bracelets and hair accessories for her and Hisoka that they wore at festive days.Some of them she even sold off to her neighbors and the villagers but mostly Hisana kept them for her and her daughter, it was a way to show her connection to the sea… and to Shanks. And so it wasn’t an uncommon sight for the villagers to see Hisana and even Hisoka run around with long strands of white pearls braided through their hair.

In the years they spent on the small fisher island Hisana never hid Hisoka’s pirate heritage from her. Quite the contrary, she told her everything she knew about Shanks, how they had met and even hung his Wanted posters up in Hisoka’s room. Her daughter adored her daddy, even if she was said at times that he couldn’t be with them.

Since her birth Hisoka had always been an easy child to take care of, she didn’t cry very often and had a very cheerful and sunny disposition, just like her father. She had never caused her mother any trouble with the exception of the occasionally mischievousness or stubbornness. She was also a quick learner, from crawling to talking to reading Hisoka was an early bloomer at everything. Her little red head was such a curious and bright child that brought Hisana an immense amount of joy but also heartache because Shanks couldn’t see his daughter growing up.   
For that reason Hisana had started a photo album about Hisoka’s life, she kept minutest entries about their daughter’s development and adventures along with a boatload full of pictures. Should they ever meet again Shanks would have some insight concerning their Hisoka’s growth.

After Hisoka turned four years old Hisana also started to participate in races again, her still somewhat ingrained paranoia about the Marines finding out about her made Hisana take her daughter always along.   
During the time she spent racing she paid locals to watch her while she most of the time made quick work of the competition. This arrangement worked out very well for the single mother and when in the following year she had the opportunity to take part of a racing tour around the closest islands, Hisoka was of course with her.

This trip would change their lives forever because at the second to last race of their tour Hisana encountered the person she had missed the most in the last six years.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Shanks Interlude**

The winner of the Finn race was a black haired woman with her back turned to him, her hair plaited into a long braid. He knew that figure, she was more filled out than six years ago, but still it could only be her, after two years of searching he had finally found her again. Shanks’ eyes never left her as he slipped through the crowd until he stood behind her and touched her shoulder. He could see the confusion as she turned around before her eyes widened and then went soft, he felt her tracing his contours with her eyes, taking in the changes and additional scars of the last six years.   
God he had missed her so damn much, no woman had been able to hold a candle against her, and that few who had landed in his bed had always been thrown out as soon as they were finished. Shanks had always felt more than a bit guilty about sleeping with other women, even if his libido screamed for release and he had never promised anything to Hisana.

Oblivious of the crowd around them he pulled her into a kiss. She literally melted into his embrace before she seemed to catch her bearings and she slightly stiffened and pulled away. Before he could ask her if he had done something wrong she took him by the only hand he had left and led him to a corner where they had more privacy.

There she asked him carefully, “What happened to your arm?”

While waiting for his answer she traced patterns on his left shoulder, her face was unreadable.

Shanks sighed and said, “I lost it during a squabble with a sea king, he tried to eat a six year old kid on my watch, well I lost an arm but Luffy lived and I don’t regret it.”

Hisana watched his face and nodded before she closed her eyes and took a step closer to him, then she opened them again, “I’m glad.”

“For what, that I survived or that I don’t regret it!” Shanks asked slightly amused.

She kissed him fiercely and said, “For both!” taking a deep breath and calming herself she seemed to too try to find the right words, “Shanks I have to introduce you to somebody.”

Narrowing his eyes Shanks asked, “What do you mean, did you meet somebody while we didn’t see each other?”

Shanks felt as if he had been hit with ice water, he wasn’t sure if he could let her go if she really had found someone else, good natured or not Shanks was a pirate, he would bring out every dirty trick in the book to keep Hisana now that he had found her again.

But before he could envision one horror scenario after the other Hisana smiled reassuringly, “No, that’s not it… let’s just say you left me with something six years ago.”

And with that she led him to the empty barrels on the side of the port and nodded to a teenage boy standing beside them before she slipped some Berry into his hand, the boy said goodbye and walked away. Shanks watched this curious while his thoughts chased one possibility after the other, who did she want to introduce him to and why was she searching behind the empty water barrels?

He watched her confused while she called softly, “Hisoka where are you?”

A small giggle came behind the smallest barrel, “I’m here mummy!”

Behind the barrel stood a little four or five year old girl with fire red hair and green eyes, ”Mummy? Is that my daddy?”

“Yes honey.” Hisana couldn’t help but say warmly.

Shanks stared for a whole minute. He couldn’t breathe, he felt like somebody had punched him in his gut and then his eyes turned into his head and he sacked together. Red hair Shanks, the newest of the feared Yonko’s just fainted because of the sight of a little girl with red hair.

Sighing Hisana rolled her eyes against heaven, MEN!!! Be it civilian, marine or pirate they were all just as stupid as the other! Well at least he hadn’t rejected Hisoka outright.   
After she couldn’t wake Shanks through shaking him, the amused and a little bit exasperated black haired mother told Hisoka to stay with her daddy while she went in search for his crew. More specifically Ben, if he hadn’t changed too much in the last few years, he wouldn’t be completely useless in this situation.

She found said man smoking in front of one of the warehouses beside the dock, people watching as he had always done at the Archipelago. With a brisk pace she walked up to the pirate that leaned against the house wall.

“Hello Ben.” She greeted him smiling while she tried to gauge his reaction.

Said man’s eyes went big while he took the woman in front of him in, “Hisana… Shanks will be ecstatic, he has been searching for you for years now.” He said in his calm and collected voice.

As an answer Hisana snorted and said dryly, “Yes well he found me, but well you see he fainted and now I need some help to move him.”

This provoked a reaction out of the normally so stoic first mate, “He, WHAT?” Ben looked at her incredulous before he burst into a barking laugh, “That I have to see, where is he?”

“Come on, I left somebody with him.” Hisana said wryly.

Suffice to say the dumbfounded face of a speechless Ben was nearly as good as Shanks fainting spell. Said first mate’s eyes wandered between the kneeling Hisoka and the unconscious Shanks. He didn’t know what to say and so just watched as the little girl began to curiously comb her hands through Shanks red hair and checked her own strands against his, it was nearly identical, hers maybe a tad darker than his captain’s.  
Ben turned around to look at Hisana, the mother of his captain’s child because there was no doubt that this little girl was Shanks’ daughter, and looked at her for a long moment with big eyes, his cigarette forgotten on the floor beside him.

Turning around again Ben visible composed himself, knelt down and introduced himself to the big eyed Hisoka, “Hi there, I’m Ben, Shanks’ first mate.”

She giggled in response and answered, “I’m Hisoka, it’s nice to meet you.” before she turned back to the red strands between her fingers.

Ben couldn’t help but smile, she was a damn cute child. Remembering why Hisana had fetched him he grabbed his water bottle and poured the content into his captain’s face, careful to not hit Hisoka-chan.

Said captain woke with a start to see Hisana, Ben and the little red haired girl with Hisana’s eyes that had called him daddy and was now touching his head curiously. Swallowing he sat up and acknowledged his first mate with a hand wave while he still looked fixated at the small copy of Hisana who had now tilted her head upwards.

It took the pirate captain a while before he could form coherent thoughts but then he said gently, “Hi there, sweetheart. It’s nice to meet you.”

Shanks carefully stretched his arm to reach for her, Hisoka smiled in reply and just crawled into his lap and cuddled into his torso. Ben and Hisana saw how wide Shanks’ eyes became and how gentle he curled his arm around the little energetic bundle in his lap, while he listened amazed to her babbling. Ben smiled gently at a choked up Hisana who had tears in her eyes, excusing himself he told her that he would find them later and left the small family alone.

Still listening intently to what Hisoka had to say Shanks stood up and lifted her onto his arm. He turned to Hisana and the gaze that he shot to her spoke volumes about how utterly amazed he was. Hisana joined her daughter and her pirate captain and led them to the hotel room she had booked for the next nights; there a reluctant Hisoka was put down for her afternoon nap while Shanks and Hisana watched her fall asleep from the second bed in the room.

There was an awkward silence between the two before Shanks whispered, “I should have stayed…”

Hisana’s eyes flew up in alarm before she vehemently said, “No, you shouldn’t have.”

Shanks looked at her shocked and hurt, “Wha… but?”

Hisana rolled her eyes, sighed and sat herself beside him; she gently looked him into his eyes and asked, “Were you happy those last six years? Had you fun? Was it what you expected?”

Shanks swallowed and said, “I… yes, yes it was and so much more.”

Hisana just nodded and whispered in a quiet but fond voice, “Than you did the right thing… no listen to me…First of all you had no idea that I was pregnant, we were careful but well sometimes that isn’t enough and secondly you love the sea and your freedom, I’m sure had you stayed we would have had a nice life, you would have loved Hisoka and been the best dad in the world but deep down you would have still been unhappy. The sea is your home, even more so than mine and it wouldn’t have been right to ask you to leave your pirate life. And now that you know about her you can make it up to Hisoka and to be honest she only now begins the phase of her life that she will remember for the rest of it, you came just at the right time, so don’t worry.”

Finished with her reasoning she pecked him on his lips and burrowed her head in his torso. Shanks swallowed while he wrapped his arm around her and drew her closer. Hisana was right, he wasn’t sure if he could have lived with just being a husband and father, without fighting and drinking and adventuring. No Hisana was right, Shanks couldn’t help himself but look fondly down at her, he had a feeling that she knew him better than he himself did. A possessive and protective feeling flashed through his body, this was the woman that he loved, the mother of his child, the most beautiful woman he had ever met. With a nearly animalistic growl pushed her down on the bed and kissed her senseless, no one else was allowed to have her, he wouldn’t stand for it.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Hisana Interlude**

Interesting enough the crew took Hisoka’s existence in stride, they found their captains fainting spell a lot more interesting. They laughed themselves stupid at Ben’s and Hisana’s descriptions and they wouldn’t let their red headed captain forget this anytime soon. Because of this sudden reunion the Red Hair pirates changed their plans and set sail to the island on which Hisana and Hisoka had been living for the last few years.

During the journey ninety percent of Shanks attention was focused on the little red headed bundle of joy that bombarded him with question after question and it didn’t take long for the bright child to wiggle herself into the hearts of the remaining crew until seemingly all of them were dancing to her tune.  
Hisana just watched the happenings with an indulgent grin and a wry smile, Hisoka’s future boyfriends were going to have to be either exceptionally strong or very smart to outwit Hisoka’s by then without a doubt overprotective father and crew.

XXXXX

The pirate ship arrived at Fuusa on a beautiful morning and after a quick grand tour through the house Ben and Yasopp took Hisoka out to have her show them the immediate scenery, though they would keep away from the village for now.

With the pirates and Hisoka occupied this offered Shanks and Hisana finally some real alone time. The pirate captain sat down at the kitchen table while Hisana quickly threw together a snack for them.

“She is so smart!” Shanks uttered as Hisana sat down beside him.

“I know she is the best of us two combined.” The pride wasn’t very well hidden when Hisana spoke of her daughter.

Shanks could only nod as the two fell into silence, it wasn’t the most comfortable one but it also wasn’t a bad one, after some minutes Shanks turned to face the green eyed beauty again.

With a surprisingly serious voice, “Hisana, you have no idea how happy you made me.”

“I know Hisoka is the best…” the black haired woman tried to answer but was interrupted again.

“No, not only because Hisoka exists, I’m glad that YOU are her mother. I, god… I should have told you the moment when we met again when you were sixteen… Hisana I fell in love with you the day you somehow charmed me into paying the race fee for you…”

Hisana breathed in sharply, “What?”

Shanks chuckled bitterly while he combed with his hand through his hair, “Yeah, I know this sound shallow and like a bad fairy tale but I’ve been in love with you for more than twelve years… I never really brought up the courage to tell you because the first time we met I wasn’t sure and then when met for the second time you were sixteen and I couldn’t because I felt dirty to hit on a minor when I was already nineteen… and then at our last encounter you were legal and beautiful and so down to earth that I couldn’t find the courage to confess because I thought you would regard it as a dumb pick up line… hell I myself have no idea why it is like this, every other woman just lacks in comparison to you!”

The last part was said in a desperate voice but before Shanks could elaborate further Hisana had him pressed into the kitchen chair and was kissing him senseless. Her vigorous effort somewhat interrupted by hysterical laughers that just bubbled out of her when she nearly toppled out of his lap in her eagerness.

“I love you too…and her I thought I was the only one that was so stupid and fell head over heels for someone I had only seen three times in my life… I can’t even properly explain how important you are to me. God, in the months I’ve been pregnant with Hisoka I missed you so damn much but you told me that you were going to the New World and I couldn’t risk a message with the Marines everywhere and I and I…” the last part was trailed off while she hid her tears in his shirt.

Hisana was so relieved that he returned her feelings. She had started to doubt her chances to have something close to happiness, not that that would have in any way changed her feelings for Shanks but still it was freeing to know that they were returned and he not only tolerated her because of their daughter. Hisana felt guilty about it but ever since they had met again she had been jealous of her sweet little girl for occupying Shanks’ mind and time so completely.

**Shanks Interlude**

He was an idiot, was the only thing that went through his head while he regarded the slowly calming woman pressed against his body. She had had it a lot rougher in the last five years than he, how many stories had he heard about pirates having a girl in every port and breaking promises to their loved ones? The doubts must have been plaguing her right from the beginning. Shanks drew Hisana even closer to his body while he mentally swore to protect her and their daughter against everything in the world could throw at them, be it tangible or intangible. After a moment he let his body relax and soak in the familiar warmth, holding Hisana felt so right, he would be damned if he let this woman go again.

“Give me half a year.” he mumbled into her ear.

“Huh?” came the confused reply

“It will be enough time to find a suitable island in the New World for you and Hisoka. I will find some workers to build a house just like in Fuusa. Please come with me to the New World, you would be better protected in my territories and I could see you and Hisoka much more often without the Marines interfering! Please come with me!”

This time he begged outright, he would drop on his knees for her and grovel if needed, he didn’t know what he would do if she denied him.

Hisana was silent for a moment before she buried her head in his chest again to hide the freshly falling tears and mumbled, “Okay…”

“I’ll even… huh you said yes?” shanks asked in wonder.

“Of course you idiot, I can’t do this alone anymore, I missed you so much in the last six years and Hisoka now knows her daddy, she is so happy that she finally met you, of course we will come!” answered Hisana, sometimes Shanks could be an idiot.

Shanks was speechless for a second before he continued, “… okay… okay as I said I can’t take you with me on this trip. It’s too dangerous without preparation, the ship could be attacked or the builders could rat you and Hisoka out to the Marines. No I will need at least half a year to set everything up.”

**Hisana Interlude**

The more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded to her. Moving to the New World may be dangerous but it also would give her a lot more protection than if she stayed here in the vicinity of the Sabaody Archipelago. The marines had become more and more prominent in these waters and it was only a matter of time until they would have found them. Not many people had hair like Shanks and Hisoka and her little girl started to look more and more like her pretty boy father in his younger years. Hisana would not risk her precious little baby like that.

Wait what was that? Half a year? Hisana had to roll her eyes, Shanks obviously had no idea how long building a house would take, even if it was built by the stronger people in the New World.

“Make it a year honey. You can’t pull that off in only six months.” Especially not when he had to travel between the Grand Line and the New World.

Shanks deflated somewhat at her rebuke but agreed reluctantly.

Later that day the two parents left Hisoka once more with Ben and Yasopp while they slowly wandered through the woods. Hisana gave Shanks a rough picture of what she had been doing the last six years. When they finally reached the meadow which had been Hisana’s own little sanctuary during her pregnancy the sexual tension between the two had built up to a nearly unbearable level.

**Lemon**

Hisana could practically see how Shanks control snapped; with his hand he pulled Hisana closer until their upper bodies were pressed against each other. He started with slowly kissing her lips and then worked his way down her neck till he reached the hem of her shirt. Sighing contently Hisana pulled said shirt off and then started to work on the rest of their clothes. With a wicked smile she traced Shanks pectorals and stomach muscles until he growled at her. The noise made her smile and shiver slightly in anticipation, with a slight push from the former witch Shanks sank on the meadow and she crawled on top of him.

**Shanks Interlude**

Shanks wasn’t sure if he could trust his eyes or if he would wake up any moment now alone and with a raging hard on. Was Hisana really doing what he thought she was doing? God yes! A barely suppressed moan escaped him when he took the sight above and in front of him in. Hisana had impaled herself on his member and was now moving still somewhat awkwardly above him. She was tight like a vice and clearly hadn’t had sex in a long time but with every motion she became securer until she was bouncing above him, her breasts dancing along with her.  
Davy Jones be damned the sight nearly drove him insane. Unable to still his movements Shanks thrust up against her, which in turn drew a surprised and delighted moan of the mother of his child. Shanks was surprisingly turned on by the thought, this unbelievable woman in his arms had born his child, his beautiful daughter. Hisana had taken a great risk in doing that, if the World Government ever found out about her and little Hisoka they would stop at nothing to hunt them down and execute them. A child of a Yonko would be an instant target for them, no matter if Hisoka stayed a civilian.

In that moment while he was pushing into the woman that had haunted his dreams since he was seventeen Shanks repeated the oath that he had sworn to himself only a few hours ago- He would do everything in his power to protect and shield the females that held his heart in their small hands.

And when he finally came inside of Hisana while she twitched around him he couldn’t help but think that he had already found One Piece long ago, in a small fisher village in the East Blue. Tired, though more because of the emotional part of their encounter then the physical, Shanks fell asleep with Hisana in his arms while a gentle breeze brushed over their bodies.

**Lemon End**

XXXXXX

Determined to give his two favorite girls everything he could, Shanks started planning the move to the New World the moment he woke after the orgasm induced nap. While he absently stroked the still sleeping Hisana, ideas ran rampant behind his eyes.

Right from the beginning Shanks had a specific group of islands in mind, the so called triangle islands.   
The name didn’t come from the fact that they were three isles that formed a triangle no; the biggest isle just looked like a triangle in which a shark had bitten into at one of the pointy ends. Shanks knew it was a stupid name but he had been particularly drunk at that time and the name had just stuck. It was right smack in the middle of his territories, slightly to Whitebeards side but that didn’t bother him really. The old man and his so called sons had what a big percentage of the pirates in the New World lacked, honor. Should they ever find out about his family Shanks was sure that they wouldn’t attack him through them.

The red haired pirate captain couldn’t help but smile …his family… he liked the sound of that. He would have to find a nice ring for Hisana to make it official. Shanks knew that this was more than a bit selfish from him, a marriage would put both of the females in his life even more in danger should that ever come out but hell!!! He was a pirate and damn it if he wanted to claim his lover and their child than he would do it! And the ring… well he had something in mind, he had noticed the fascination and love Hisana had for pearls, her hair was always full with long strands of them.

Hopefully Hisana would agree to marry him, but that question would have to wait until he finished with building them a home.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Shanks Interlude**

After having made up his mind about asking Hisana to marry him Shanks’ thoughts then went back to the island he had chosen. As far as he could remember it was also one of the most naturally protected ones in his territories because of the dangerous nearly two mile long coral reeve that encircled three quarters of the island. Furthermore it was one of the isles that couldn’t be found with the Log Pose, which was a serious advantage in Shanks books. Said Island had been in the back of his mind for a time now, he had even considered putting up something close to a permanent place for the Red Hair pirates though he never had the motivation to make that reality, their ship had been home enough until now.

His thoughts drifted back to the islands and the pirate captain furrowed his eyebrows, the smaller islands around it had some rather strange animals. Shanks wasn’t sure how dangerous those were, so before either Hisoka or Hisana explored them he would have to let his crew sweep the islands, better safe than sorry. The main isle though should be relatively safe, with exception of the natural predators of course.

With his mind focused on this new project Shanks was antsy to get going and so the Red Hair Pirates didn't stay long at Hisana's and Hisoka's home. Only two days later they travelled in direction of the New World again. Shanks could practically feel the questioning glances from his crew but during the first day none of the pirates dared to ask why he wanted to leave his family so suddenly after seeing them for the first time in six years.

In the morning of the second day Ben apparently had enough of his captain acting so strange and asked him point blank in front of the whole crew why he was acting so strange. The crew was clearly taken back at the radiant grin that Shanks sent his first mate as answer.

"Hisana has agreed to come to the New World; she has given me a year to find a safe place for both of them." The red haired man crowed happily.

All over the ship jaws dropped. It was not uncommon that the mothers of pirate brats allowed the fathers a certain amount of contact if they happened to be decent but to willingly follow one into the most dangerous region on earth? None of them could remember to ever having heard of such an occurrence.

"…Crazy..." Ben snorted before he sighed, "Both of you! Seriously, you and Hisana can't be serious! Moving to the New World?"

"A year." Shanks just singsonged before he turned to the rest of the crew and announced, "I will build a safe haven for both Hisana and Hisoka, if you want to move your family there you are welcome to it." and then left the deck.

**Ben Interlude**

Another heavy sigh escaped Ben while behind him the noise exploded. Why again was he the First Mate of the red haired Shanks? Oh right because being a fisher man had been too boring.

Oh well if Shanks' pretty lover and their little princess really wanted to move to the redheaded Emperor's territories, he would make damn sure that Shanks didn't forget something essential.

Hhm Empress Hisana… Ben grinned amused. It certainly fit the beautiful woman, and from what Ben had seen she probably was really strong enough to withstand the pressure of being a Yonko's wife. Raising a pirate's kid on the Grand Line and relatively close to the Marine Headquarters is no easy feat; it required smarts and nerves of steel. Ben snorted again while his gaze glided over the ship and to the horizon, who would have thought that a carefree man like Shanks would jump at the chance of having a family, maybe he would even marry Hisana.

At first Ben wanted to snort at the thought, pirates were notoriously known to run the moment marriage was brought up… but maybe… with a sigh the first mate moved his eyes away from the horizon to follow his captain inside while he continued to ponder the topic. Inside he wandered to the room where Shanks and him always discussed routes and possible marine ambushes.   
He watched from the doorway as his captain stood hunched over one of the roughly drawn maps of an isle group in their territories that was uninhabited as far as Ben knew… oh who was he kidding, of course Shanks would put a ring on Hisana’s finger the moment his preparation were completed. And then he would smite down whoever dared to come too close to her, Shanks was possessive like that. Chuckling to himself Ben walked into the cabin he was curious what his captain had planned.

The idea was a lot more amusing than Ben first had thought, Akagami no Shanks married, what his frenemies would say to that?

**Shanks Interlude**

After they had passed under the Red Line, the first stop they made was at one of Shanks' personal loot islands. The red haired pirate had more than one of these islands placed all over the New World and even Paradise. As a young captain he had quickly learned to put some gold aside before everything was exchanged for booze, in the first three years it happened more than once that they had alcohol but not enough food or medicine stocked up and so the crew as a whole had several safe depots spread out over the oceans, for just these emergency situations.   
His own personal savings had started after he had lost his arm, and had been attacked by various more or less wealthy pirate crews. For a short amount of time it was touch and go about his reputation and a lot of small fry had ‘rightly’ thought that he would be weak enough to take down. Shanks had been weak at that time true but he had still been able to easily make shish kebab out of said small fry and more importantly he had the backing of Ben and the rest of his crew who had taken exception to assassination attempts at their still wounded captain. The attacks had been annoying but the loot they had won had more than made up for that, and it was always a good idea to have some gold to fall back on in bad times.

Having never needed a construction company before Shanks had quite a few problems imagining what he wanted them to do and estimating the costs for that. so in the end he had simply filled the bilge to the brim with some of his treasure.

And so hopefully sufficiently prepared the Red Haired Pirates arrived nearly two weeks after leaving Hisana's home in Wano country. Shanks had been contemplating this for a while but in the end he and Ben had agreed that this place would be the safest choice to hire experienced builders from, who wouldn't rat him out. After all Wano country was not part of the World Government and that guaranteed nearly a hundred percent of discretion for pirates.

While he left his crew to refill their stocks Shanks asked one of the merchants that he had known since his first arrival in the New World where he could find a reliable construction company that would take jobs on other islands. After some careful consideration and a long stare, Shanks was pointed in the direction of a man called Takeru-san.

Takeru Hiroaki was a nearly seventy year old master builder who had been in this business for over fifty years and instantly recognized in Shanks the intent to build a main base the moment the pirate captain entered his administration building. Instead of further wasting time with pleasantries that were normally so typical for his countrymen Takeru told the pirate plainly to bring him a map of the island he wanted to build on. The old master builder then sat down with the red haired pirate captain and explained to him what he could build on this terrain along with a rough estimate of what it would cost Shanks and what would be essential for further constructions.  
Ben, who had accompanied Shanks, threw in some questions concerning the defense of the island and the constructions. The old master nodded approvingly and pointed out some very interesting possibilities to the pirates.

In the end Shanks decided on the draft where the port was on the, for the Mad Mura accessible side of the island as well as an apartment building overlooking the port for his crew, plus some extra rooms for various occasions. In the end they had agreed on a lot of extra rooms, just in case and because of the more than favorable location.

Considering the size of this project, eighty percent of Takeru's workers were hired right from the beginning and because of the estimated time frame as well as the rush order Shanks would have to pay thirty percent of the work hours in advance so that the families of the workers would be provided with funds while their husbands and fathers were away.

Any other man would have winced when presented with the estimated amount that Shanks would have to fork over but to be honest the red head had expected more, if only for the reason that he was a pirate and not a civilian. So while his crew winced around him when they saw a significant amount of the chests filled with gold leave the ship, Shanks just whistled happily while he thought of what Hisana and Hisoka would want in their new home. Ben had also made sure that the exact numbers that Shanks had paid for the building that would be for the crew had been documented so that the rest of the crew could slowly start paying it back through a small cut of their due, after all it really wasn’t Shanks duty to provide them with a place to stay on the newly deemed headquarters.

The next morning the Mad Mura left Wano with a forty men strong construction crew as well as the bilge full with building materials instead of loot.

Some days after leaving Wano Country and finally entering in Shanks territory the Red Hair pirates encountered some of the smaller pirate groups they had defeated throughout the last five or so years and which were now under Shanks' command and owed him part of their loot as a tribute.

Having an idea to reduce the building costs for the triangle islands, Shanks gave the captains the instruction to start ferrying all looted building materials to a certain bare island only a day trip away from the triangle island. Shanks normally didn't expect a lot of tribute from his underlings, so while his strange request raised some eyebrows they didn't dare to say anything.

On his right side Ben nodded approvingly at his captain’s fast thinking. In his mind Shanks childishly blew a raspberry in his First Mate's direction. The older pirate had showed him up during the initial planning with Takeru-san and in his mind Shanks was still pouting about this fact.

After having satisfied his more childish urges he returned to his thoughts about ferrying said building materials. As much as Shanks was sure that the crews under his command wouldn't try to usurp him, he couldn’t be sure about how much they could be trusted with the information of his new headquarters and more pressing, the new home of his family. As much as Shanks wanted to move the construction forward, he didn’t want to be bound to the near vicinity of the triangle island to supervise the other pirate crews, after all he needed to make a few trips to reestablish his presence.

XXXXXXX

Two days before finally arriving at the triangle island they encountered another one of Shanks underling pirate crews, though this time Shanks felt comfortable enough to talk about his newest project with their captain.  
The Sea Lions, as they called themselves, were one of the two crews that Shanks trusted implicitly. He had sailed with the Sea Lions for years now. His crew had defeated them in his first year as pirate captain and the two ships had kept a very amiable relationship throughout the years. Hell they even sometimes exchanges some crew members for a few months for the hell of it.

After their reunion was celebrated that evening with lots of alcohol, Shanks took Captain Montura to the side and asked him to do him a personal favor. Montura, who had always had the deepest respect for his friend and Yonko, agreed instantly without even asking what the favor contained. Shanks then told him about the fact that he had a long time lover and a child and that he wanted to situate them in the New World under his protection.

The dumbfounded captain who had blown his beer through his nose in sheer disbelief, agreed to ferry the building materials from the abandoned island to the triangle island in exchange for rooms in the pirate building and a home port to which they could return without fear of anyone attacking them.

A few days later Shanks and his crew finally arrived at the triangle island.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The first thing the building crew did after their arrival was putting a makeshift dock in place to unload the Mad Mura and later other ships that would be ferrying the materials.

After completing this first task they started on the pirate mansion which was placed halfway to the top of the mountain. It would look over the port below and the high placement would warn them sufficiently early from uninvited guests on the horizon.   
Thanks to the sporadic help of the pirate crew that visited ever so often the building was finished in three months, a record time even for an experienced New World building crew like Takeru-san had.

For the first time the Red Hair Pirates had permanent headquarters since they started out nearly twelve years ago. Each pirate had a personal room in what one of the younger members had jokingly called the family wing. Shanks knew his men well enough that he was relatively sure that nobody would steal from his shipmates. The camaraderie between his crew members was similar to Whitebeards crew. Ben had once compared them to a bunch of half and step brothers with Shanks as their dorky older or younger brother that called the shots.

Even Shanks had a room in the so called family wing. It was furnished with a double bed, a work table, some books that had been flooding his captain cabin and a leopard rug. The room overlooked the bay that one day would be the port of Kouken island.

The port whose construction had started at the same time as the pirate mansion took an extra two months to be completed because of the difficulty of building it partially in the sea water and making it strong enough to withstand the storms of the New World.

Kouken, the guardian island.

Shanks couldn't even remember who had initially blurted the name out, oh well it didn't really matter. The crew had decided to call the island Kouken because it would serve as the safe haven for Shanks family and a steady base for the rest of the crew. Until now none of his subordinates had said anything about bringing his or her family to the New World.

During the time the building crew had been working the Red Hair Pirates hadn't been idle and had started to step up their looting a bit. Until now Shanks had been more or less passive concerning looting merchant ships and had kept primarily to the enemy pirate crews but with the headquarters in construction they started to target more ships that sailed through his territory. The crew stored the looted furniture and fabrics in the already completed cellar of the pirate building, primarily to prevent damage and so that it could be used at a later date. Furthermore Shanks had taken extra care to not attack ships that belonged to his territories or that of another Yonko. It wouldn't do to cause a revolt on his isles as implausible as it sounded or instigate a war with another Yonko now that Hisana and Hisoka would soon come to the New World.

During the time the crew spent on Kouken they also systematically hunted down the big predators like tigers and leopards and some of the more bizarre animal variants. The furs were cleaned and some were kept back as trophies while the majority was sold to the merchants in Shanks territory for a pretty penny. The vast storage rooms under the pirate mansion now also contained the tributes of the various islands in his territories. Especially the kitchen crew was happy about this occurrence, they now had a place to store basic ingredients like flour, rice, salt, dried meat and preservatives in the mansion without having to think about what they had to get rid of at first to keep the stock on the ship balanced.

XXXXXXX

With the port and pirate mansion completed Shanks took Takeru aside and told him that he additionally wanted five or six houses on the other side of the island, towards the coral reeve for pirate families.

The old builder had looked intensely at the red haired pirate captain before chuckling and saying, "You mean your family."

Shanks had stiffened at that reply and suddenly looked very serious at the old man. A few dozen scenarios ran through his head how this information could change the business deal.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." the old builder continued with an earnest voice and put a stop to Shanks' silent panic attack.

Only slowly did Shanks shoulders relax and he listed off what he wanted in the house and how big it should be.

For Shanks family home, they agreed on a five bedroom house, four rooms on the second floor and one on the first that would serve as a guest room. Shanks wasn't sure for whom, but what did he know about Hisana’s hospitality? The kitchen would be equipped with the newest appliances and was something called open concept, Shanks had shrugged his shoulders and left the details to the old man who had the experience. He had only given him a few guidelines like practical, down to earth and homey. For most of the house Shanks simply took Hisana's home at the small Fisher Island as model.  
The only exception to it was the cellar. Concerning this room Shanks had some very specific instructions. It had to be at least three times the size of the house above it so that he could leave a part of his personal alcohol stash within the house.

Concerning the other houses Shanks let Takeru a free hand, it didn't really matter to him how they looked as long as they weren’t too hideous and fell somebody on the head. In the end they all were either four or three bedroom houses with normal sized cellars.

XXXXXXXX

The houses were nearly finished when Takeru approached Shanks about the water and electricity supply all of the buildings would need. After all he hadn't anticipated the additional houses, the pirate mansion had a built in generator that got the energy from a tidal plant they had incorporated into the port. Of course he could simply add them to the generator but if the island would grow in the near future the tidal plant wouldn't be enough and the island would have the same problem again. The builder stated plainly that it would be a lot cheaper and far more efficient to solve the problem now then in a few years. Takeru then suggested building a water reservoir to supply the households as well as the possibility of using hydro power created through the water system to win electricity for the households. While Shanks had next to no knowledge about anything concerning construction he understood the concept of solving both problems with one machine. To help Takeru-san speed up the construction of said water reservoir Shanks left Maruko, one of his underlings, with the builders while the rest of the crew was off again to loot merchant and pirate ships.

Maruko, was a twenty nine year old logia user that could control the earth to a certain extend as well as certain types of stone. With his help the dam on the top of the mountain that would supply the island with water was built within a week. And the houses were connected to the water and electricity supply only twenty days after Takeru had brought his idea to Shanks.

XXXXXXXX

Shanks was content with what Takeru’s crew had built. Anywhere else in the world it would have been impossible to complete the infrastructure this fast on an until then uninhabited island.

The house that would be the home for his family was close to the shore line, only a five minute walk from the small side dock the workers had built for Hisana' Finn Dinghy. The house itself was partially hidden in the woods and hopefully in a few more years it wouldn't be visible from the shore line. That would prevent them from being an instant target should somebody attack the island from the coral reeve side.

The other homes where scattered throughout the island; some even halfway up the mountain while the closest one was a ten minute walk away. The wood used for the houses was taken from a relatively flat piece of land at the foot of the mountain. This place would later probably serve as orchards, though that would be up to Hisana and the other inhabitants of Kouken. During their short time together Hisana had mentioned in passing that she had always wanted some, but it had been impossible on the small property she had bought on Fuusa. So the pirates had moved the banana trees as well as mango, coconut, pineapple and even some coffee and cocoa plants that they had found during their sweeps through the island down to the cleared area. The half grown fruit trees had been planted as enclosure for the uprooted field, the rest they would leave to Hisana and nature in general.

This was the first physical labor the pirates had done since joining Shanks crew that didn't include fighting, looting or sailing the ship and they were all glad when it was over and that they didn't have to do this honest work thing every day.

Content with the finished buildings, Shanks paid Takeru and his crew the final amount, which was less then estimated because of all the looted building materials. The building crew was sent back to Wano country with the Sea Lions, after Shanks' crew said goodbye to them and the pirate captain promised the old builder that he would take all of their possible future dealings to him.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

After the last of the building crew had left the island Shanks informed his crew about what Lucky Roo’s had discovered during one of his hunts for predators.

In a moment of distraction the burly pirate had fallen into a cave system and once he had made sure that he was fine he had started to explore it a bit. He had followed the longwinded tunnels for a while and found that this labyrinth of caves and tunnels went under the mountain and pervaded nearly all of the island. After timing his walks Lucky Roo came to the conclusion that thanks to the tunnels other parts of the island could be reached much faster underground than if they had walked through the jungle and over the mountain.

With a whole crew of enthusiastic and overeager pirates running through the underground tunnels the cave system was mapped out nearly completely in a few days. They also strategically placed oil lamps to lighten the paths after one of the younger crewmembers broke his ankle in the dark. Their next task had been blocking some of the paths that ended at the open sea and could be used by possible invaders.

Once that was finished they turned their attention to a project that had Ben shake his head in amused exasperation. The crew turned one of the bigger and more well hidden side caves into a treasury. Shanks nearly crowed in delight and his big grin split his face while he and Yasopp excitedly talked about finally having a real pirate treasury in a dark cave system and what kind of traps they could install to protect it. Lucky Roo murmured under his breath to Ben that should they really set some traps it would probably them that set them off the next time they wanted to get in. Ben had to agree with Roo’s assessment and wondered once more why he had agreed to be Shanks first mate slash babysitter. While his captain and their best sharp shooter were occupied with their childhood fantasies Ben had the ship’s carpenter install an iron door in the cave entrance and that was that.

With that completed they finally made their way back to Fuusa. It had been nearly exactly a year now and Shanks was desperate to see Hisana and Hisoka again.

XXXXXXXXX

On their way back into Paradise Shanks stopped at Fisherman’s Island to pick up the very special commission that he had ordered on his last stop there. It was Hisana’s engagement ring.

The delicate band was made of the clearest jade that Shanks had been able to find in the shop, and was nearly exactly the color of Hisana’s eyes. It was cased with titanium in a beautiful tendriled pattern and a black pearl at the center. It cost as much as a small ship.

On a whim Shanks also bought one of the pearl hair pins with the wave design for Hisoka before he returned to the Mad Mura.

Humming he watched as the last of their supplies was loaded onto the ship and the bubble coat was reapplied. With a half an ear he heard the dock worker warning Ben about a Marine experiment that had gone wrong somewhere close to one of their bases but dismissed the news as unimportant. His thoughts kept circling about Hisana and Hisoka and he had to consciously suppress the urge to fidget in anticipation, damn it he was a grown man, even if he often didn’t look like it.

An hour later the last of his crew boarded and they were off in direction of the Sabaody Archipelago.

They arrived a day later just after sundown and no one bothered to do anything but secure the ship and then search out the nearest bar. Most of the conversations centered around the marines failed experiment and the destruction of an island group somewhere close. Shanks had to snort derisively; he wasn’t the least bit surprised that the marines had to fuck up like that. This close to the New World a special brand of officer scum lurked around and played around with things better left alone.

He and Ben glanced at each other, both had a somber expression on their face but didn’t say anything. Within a few days the whole thing would be pushed under the rug and within a year or two no one would remember with the exception of the people who lost someone in the whole debacle. It simply happened too often nowadays to really elicit more than some gossip and pity.

“I have taken a look on my way here. The wave ripped away ninety percent of the vegetation and turned the village into rubble. And I heard that nobody survived it because it came out of nowhere. The water has receded but the only thing left are ruins and drift wood. It’s going to take a long time before that island has recovered.” A middle aged man with a beard said gruffly.

His equally weathered neighbor nodded in agreement “And nobody wants to move there now that they know it’s in the vicinity of one of the Marines labs and could be destroyed again if they lose control over something.”

“It’s a pity.” One of the younger sailors nearby said into his beer glass, “The Shell Islands had not a lot going for itself but damn they could make some tasty fish soup. I’m also going to miss the Inn on Fuusa, that young waitress always winked at me when I visited.”

It took a moment for Shanks to register what had just been said.

Hisana and Hisoka.

NO!!!

Shanks only snapped out of it when Ben forcefully clamped down on his arm that had wrapped itself around his sword and was a quarter out of his sheath. When had that happened? Shanks to a shaky breath and then consciously relaxed his hand again. Only then Ben let go, his eyes still wary and trained on Shanks face.

Everyone around them had gone quiet and were now looking at the red haired pirate captain.

Shanks turned in the direction of the sailors he had been listening to.

“Nobody survived?” he asked seriously.

The three men were sweating by now and quickly shook their heads.

Then the one that spoke first stuttered, “W…well not those that were on the island itself, a few fishermen who were far enough out survived…” he trailed off without meeting Shanks eyes.

Ben’s hand landed on his shoulder and he murmured quietly, “Calm down. We will search and if they survived we will find them.”

Shanks just nodded before he stood up and left the bar without another word. From behind him he could hear Ben questioning the sailors some more. He felt numb on the walk back to his ship.

Two days. He had two days with the love of his life and their precious little girl and now they were gone.

Shanks closed his eyes when he had finally reached his cabin, he felt his eyes burning. The pirate took another shaky breath before he closed the door behind him and stretched out on his bed and stared up at the wooden ceiling. Tomorrow they would start to search for Hisana and Hisoka… and if they didn’t find them Shanks would send Ben with the crew to the New World and he would rip the Marine Base responsible for this to shreds.

That night the red haired man found no sleep or solace in the thoughts of vengeance.

**Ben Interlude**

The following day an uncommonly grim pirate crew set sail at the earliest moment. Ben was watching is captain with worry. Shanks face had set itself in a stony mask and the normally so cheerful and boisterous man was quietly standing behind the steering wheel and staring off into the distance.

The black haired first mate prayed to Neptune and Davy Jones that Hisana were alright and had somehow survived the catastrophe. He wasn’t sure if Shanks would ever relearn to smile if they didn’t.

They made good time and only three days later they arrived at what was left over of Fuusha. Ben closed his eyes in resignation at the destruction. There was simply no way the two civilian females would have survived this if they had been at home.

In the last few days Shanks had maybe said ten words, looking grim faced and staring off into distance or at the small jewel box that contained Hisana’s engagement ring.

With a few quick words the black haired man gave orders to anchor the ship before two smaller boats rowed over a part of the crew to take a closer look and search for signs that Shanks family had survived. No one of the twenty pirates spoke as they walked up the cliffs to where Hisana’s house had stood. There were only ruins left and her garden had been completely destroyed.

Ben’s mind automatically returned to the afternoon when Shanks and Hisana had vanished into the woods and he and Yasopp had watched Hisoka roughhouse with the other members of Shanks crew. How her addicting giggles had rang through the air filled with sweet smells of the flowers and fruit trees around them. The way her red hair had glistened in the sun just like Shanks and he had marveled about how similar she was to her father.  
Ben had to consciously rip himself out of these thoughts or his eyes would start to burn. Hisoka wasn’t even six yet and to be extinguished like that was just cruel. A quick glance over his shoulder let him clench his fist. Shanks looked at the ruins of the house with an unreadable look. Ben really didn’t want to imagine what his captain was going through right now. Shanks was a person that committed himself with heart and soul to a task and in this case a person, it was both admirable and a dangerous thing to do. Ben also slowly came to the realization that his captain would probably never recover from this blow, he may be able to fake it someday but right now it looked like Shanks had been truly broken by the death of his family.

“Captain! Ben!” Yasopp’s voice echoed over the eerier silent island.

Ben’s head ripped around jogged over to the sharp shooter, even Shanks had been jolted out of his dark thoughts.

“Look.” The blonde man said and pointed at the half caved in kitchen wall.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Shanks Interlude**

_We are alive, come find us in Water Seven. – H &H_

Stood there scratched into the waterlogged surface.

Shanks felt like he had been punched for the second time in so many days and something wet slid down his face. Confused he lifted his hand to his cheeks to realize that he was crying. Fuck.

He felt Ben coming up beside him and then how his first mate put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

“They are okay.” The older man said unnecessarily and stared up into the sky, taking care to not stare at Shanks wet face.

“Yeah…” Shanks said with a small smile before wiped away his tears and turned around grinning at his stunned looking crew.

“Looks like we are going to Water Seven.”

XXXXXXXXXX

It took them ten days until Water Seven came into view. Only then Shanks felt the last of the tension leave his body. They would reach the city on the next morning and then… then he would see Hisana and Hisoka again.

That night he indulged for the first time in nearly two weeks in sake again. Since the night he had learned of Fuusa’s destruction he hadn’t tasted even a drop of alcohol, not trusting himself being even slightly drunk around the weaker members of his crew.

With a content sigh the red head settled against the front most mast and looked at the clear night sky while behind him his crew was celebrating like they hadn’t for weeks. A fond smile stole itself on his face and Shanks let his head thumb against the wood behind him. Now that the mist of pain and loss had been lifted he felt guilty for ignoring the pirates that had been accompanying him for more than ten years in some cases. He was their captain and he couldn’t just drown in his own sorrow when he had the responsibility of over fifty pirates. Thankfully he had Ben for a first mate, the older man had taken care of everything while he had mentally been in the seven circles of hell.

Said man slumped down beside him and sat down another ten bottles of sake between them, good man.

“Want to be captain?” Shanks asked idly while his eyes returned to the stars.

Beside him Ben choked on his sake, “Hell no.” after a short pause in which he finally could breath in some air he continued, “If you asshole think about retiring and leaving me with that bunch of morons you have another thing coming!”

Shanks had to grin before he took another swig of his sake. Somehow he had known that this would be Ben’s answer.

“Nah… I have the feeling that I would drive Hisana nuts before the first month was over.” He admitted with a quiet smile.

“Damn right you would.” Ben murmured with a grumble before taking another swing from the bottle, probably to recover from the shock Shanks had just given him.

XXXXXXXX

The next day the Mad Mura entered the cities port at Dock 4. Shanks also took the opportunity to have one of the shipwrights look over the Mad Mura. Their old lady had been in quite a few storms in the last two years and while he trusted his own shipwrights, the ones in Water Seven were just a class for themselves. Additionally he wanted to get a feel for the people around because he probably would commission his next one here. As much as he loved their old lady he knew that he wanted to captain a ship made out of Adam Wood someday and where better to commission it then at the same port his own captain had received his.

Once that was out of the way the red haired captain turned around and made a beeline for the city, Lucky Roo hot on his heels. Shanks could practically feel Ben’s exasperated sigh from beside the Water Seven shipwright but ignored it with practiced ease.

Once the two pirates finally came across an empty side street Shanks opened his senses and let his Kenbunshoku Haki flood his surroundings and then sent out a nearly intangible shockwave that rushed through all of Water Seven.

Shanks would have known the feeling of Hisana’s and Hisoka’s aura everywhere. He had spent the better part of their last meeting ingraining them into his memory so that he would always be able to find them again if they were in close vicinity.

“Got them.” He said with a grin and promptly started in their direction.

XXXXXXX

Shanks took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before he stepped around the corner behind which he had felt Hisana’s and Hisoka’s aura. His heart pounded in anticipation and then he saw it.

The familiar blood red hair of his daughter nearly glowed with the fountain as its backdrop; she was splashing around with one hand in the round basin. And she had grown.

Dear god. Instead of the nearly grown toddler that he had left behind with her mother he now saw a young child that was nearly half a head taller with slightly less baby fat. Her face though, her face was just as sweet.

It took him a moment or three to rip himself away from the picture but then his eyes wandered over to where Hisana was sitting with three other people in the shade of an old building discussing something.

He had found them.

The first step he took in direction of his lover nearly landed him flat on his nose but the next one was more secure and than he was only a few steps away from the dark haired woman that he had thought to have lost.

Hisana’s companions stopped talking when they saw him come closer. And then Hisana turned her head. There was a moment of silence before he could see the sheer relief that brightened up her whole face. In the next moment Hisana was on her feet and in his arm and Shanks buried his head into her hair with a relieved sigh.

“I found you.” He whispered hoarsely.

“That you did.” Hisana said with a shaky chuckle at the end.

“I thought you were dead.” Shanks continued, his eyes were shadowed at that.

“It was close but Neptune and the sea itself watched over us.” Hisana said with a wry smile before the conversation was interrupted by an excited “DADDY!!!”

The nearly seven year old girl bowled into his legs and clung to him as if she would never let go again. Well until the moment Shanks reached down and hauled her into his arm. He pressed a desperate kiss against the baby soft skin of her cheek and then buried his head into the crook of her neck to breathe in deeply. Hisoka’s arms closed around his neck like steel bands and then she was silent while she cuddled closer to him.

From his other side Hisana’s hand came up and gently stroked over their daughter’s soft hair before the hand wandered down to stroke her now shaking back in comfort. Her other arm curled around his waist before she let the bulk of her weight sack against him. Not that Shanks had any problems with keeping the three upright.

They stood like this for a time, ignoring the three other people on this small hidden away plaza in Water Seven.

XXXXXXXXXX

It felt like eternity until Hisoka spoke again, “It was so scary dad. The wave was so big and we couldn’t sail around it.” Hisoka murmured into his ear with her eyes still closed.

“I am so glad that you and your mum are fine, baby.” He whispered back and held her even closer, his heart pounding at an uncomfortable fast pace, they had been out on the water when the wave had hit Fuusa, dear god.

At her daughter’s account Hisana’s hand tightened in his shirt and she shuddered before she reluctantly moved a bit away and looked over to where their companions stood.

Lucky Roo was talking to the eldest of the trio, a woman that was maybe around his own age and two teenagers on the cusps of adulthood. Hisana saw his gaze and tugged him along to join the conversation.

“Shanks these are Kaluah and her apprentices Maya and Takao, Kaluah is… was a doctor on Fuusa and helped me give birth to Hisoka. She is also her godmother.” Hisana said with a small smile before turning her head and continued, “Kaluah this is Shanks, and you have already met Lucky Roo.”

Kaluah looked considering at Shanks before she nodded, “Nice to meet you, captain Shanks. Any chance you would take us three with you wherever you are bringing Hisana and Hisoka?”

Shanks grinned at that, the woman was blunt and up front. He liked people like her. Additionally having someone with medical knowledge in Hisana’s and Hisoka’s vicinity was a good idea, just in case.

“Sure, it’s actually not a bad idea for Hisana to have a doctor on hand, the island is pretty isolated.” He agreed easily.

Hisoka hummed happy into his ear but didn’t make any move to let go of him.

“Where are you staying?” Lucky Roo asked friendly.

“In a hotel close to Dock 5,” the female apprentice, Maya answered with a listless smile.

She looked tired and as if she had cried a lot in the last few days and as if she would start again any moment now. Her light brown eyes were dull and slightly pink while her long brown hair was sloppily bound out of her face with a long colorful scarf; its end was intertwined with the hair that was piled up on top of her head in a messy bun. Maya’s hands trembled a bit until the other apprentice put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, then she relaxed somewhat and let herself be held. Takao was maybe a year older and had black hair and dark grey almost black eyes. There was a sad frown around his lips that didn’t seem to go away and his shoulders were slightly slumped and only the girl beside him seemed to stop him from breaking down himself.

“Well then let’s get your things and settle you on the ship. We will be leaving tomorrow at first light.” Shanks said as tactfully as he could, he may have found his family but the three in front of him and clearly lost their whole world, “That is, if you don’t have anything to finish up here?”

“I want to stock up on medical equipment before we leave. Water Seven has the best quality on the Grand Line… I know the suppliers here and my order could be finished today if we hurry.” Kaluah answered. She too had dark rings around her eyes but she didn’t seem to be on the verge of a break down like her two apprentices.

Nodding at that Shanks eyes glided to Takao and Maya who just shook their heads and Hisana who was once again leaning against him just sighed tiredly before answering.

“The wave ripped nearly everything with it… and from what was left only a small part has been salvageable, the rest was waterlogged. I used the last few days to replenish our clothes and some of Hisoka’s toys with some of the money I put into the bank here for emergency situations.”

Shanks grimaced and nodded, “I saw the house. Your books and your photo albums…” at that he trailed off because Hisana’s eyes became bitter.

“Yeah… nothing survived, I’m just glad that I gave you the one about Hisoka when you left. My pictures from my parents and brother are all gone.”

Shanks knew that those were the last mementos Hisana had left of her birth family. Wordlessly he kissed her on the temple and wished for the first time in a long while that he had his second arm back so that he could hug the black haired woman.

“Your pearls?” Shanks asked after a few minutes of silence. Hisana wasn’t wearing them right now and he had an inkling of how important her self-made jewelry was for her.

At that Hisana’s eyes became a bit more cheerful, “Actually those are all accounted for. They were in my jewelry box on the second floor when the wave hit and I found them still inside in the backyard.”

Shanks lips quirked at that before he kissed her on the temple, “I would have gotten you new ones otherwise.”

 


End file.
